Gilles Grimandi discusses failure to bring Kylian Mbappe to Arsenal and Premier League title race

Former Arsenal midfielder and club scout Gilles Grimandi spoke exclusively to Ladbrokes: Fanzone about the failure to bring Kylian Mbappe to north London and his thoughts on the title race.

Failing to sign Mbappe my biggest regret as Arsenal scout

I don’t know whether Kylian Mbappe is a realistic target for Arsenal, even if the club wins the Premier League and has a strong season in Europe. We tried to convince him before, in 2016.

We met his parents in London who came to the training ground and alongside Arsene [Wenger} and Richard Law we travelled to meet Kylian in the south of France.

We tried to convince him, but I don’t think it was the best time for us. That meeting took place the day after we’d just lost to Swansea at home in the League, which itself followed a defeat at Old Trafford and I remember we had a big game away just three days later against Tottenham, so the timing was not ideal.

We tried, and I really don’t think we were far from getting him, but he declined the project and signed a new deal with Monaco.

I’d say it is probably the biggest disappointment in my 15 years as an Arsenal scout, not convincing Kylian Mbappe to sign for the club.

Kylian is the kind of player who can change a club, that’s for sure. There aren’t so many of those players in the world. It might happen once in your life as a scout or as a manager; signing someone who changes your club, and we just missed out on Mbappe all those years ago.

Looking ahead, the best clubs in the world, in which you have to include the English trio of Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, should all be trying to sign him because he’s a very special talent, and there’s a great opportunity for someone to sign him on a free transfer.

However, my instinct is that he has a love for Real Madrid and also we have to remember that PSG will be very keen that he remains in Paris, so I do not believe he will arrive at Arsenal, but it would be great if he did of course.

It would be quite something to see Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe playing in the same division, especially if Mbappe was playing at Arsenal.

Only three teams in title race

Obviously I want Arsenal to win the title, and for me only one team can finish ahead of Arsenal, and that’s Manchester City. It’s a three-horse race, between Arsenal, City and Liverpool right now, and I don’t know why, but I just don’t see Liverpool finishing ahead of Arsenal, so it’ll be between either them or Man City, in my opinion.

We are in a similar position to where we were last year, and once again City are behind, as things stand. Only, this time, Arsenal are heading into the second half of this season with more experience under their belt. The big question is going to be around how Arsenal can cope with the demands of Champions League knockout football, while also trying to challenge for the title. It’s something Manchester City are used to doing now, so Arsenal will have to match them across all competitions. They’ll need a little bit of luck, of course, when it comes to their players staying free of injuries, but the club are in a very strong position, and I really hope they do it.

Here’s where Arsenal disappointed me at Anfield

I think the draw at Anfield was a good result for Arsenal. That’s a difficult place for any team to go, but the game was a good one to watch. It was a great advertisement for the Premier League, The intensity of the game was fantastic, and Arsenal showed excellent spirit at the start of the game. They definitely deserved to score the opening goal of the game.

If I am disappointed about anything, it’s that Arsenal’s performance dropped a little bit after they got their goal, and that allowed Liverpool back into the game. It would have been a great time for them to get a second goal and create some distance between the two sides, but in allowing Liverpool to attack them, once they equalised, there was always a worry that they were going to go on and win the game, which would have been a huge disappointment.

The second half was quite difficult to watch, but Arsenal defended well, and I suppose the draw was probably a fair result in the end. Arsenal will be the happier of the two teams, because both are trying to win the title, and with Arsenal being the away side, a point at Anfield is huge for them.

This interview was conducted before the defeat by West Ham.