Monaco Vice-President Says Real Madrid Still Blame Him for Kylian Mbappe Miss

AS Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev has said he still attracts frustration from Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who blames the Russian for Los Blancos missing out on the signing of Kylian Mbappe.

Mbappe initially joined Paris Saint-Germain on loan from Monaco in the summer of 2017 before making the €180 million (£159 million) move permanent ahead of the 2018-19 season.

Vasilyev told RMC Sport (h/t Goal's Chris Burton) Perez isn't over the missed deal: "These two clubs are friends. I have spoken with [Real president] Florentino Perez and every time he sees me he always blames me for not selling him Kylian Mbappe."

The 19-year-old has only enhanced his reputation further since moving to the Parc des Princes last summer and even outshone club team-mate Neymar en route to winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup with France.

It's a testament to the quality of Mbappe, who is seven years younger than Neymar, to already be duelling for the limelight with such a revered talent.

French football expert Julien Laurens was even torn on who he thought would have the better 2018-19 season, via ESPN UK:

Neymar appears to still hold the edge in terms of production, however. He finished the 2017-18 campaign with 28 goals and 16 assists in 30 appearances, having had his season ended by injury in February. Mbappe played 46 times but still couldn't beat the Brazilian in either category, recording 21 goals and 15 assists.

But Vasilyev isn't the man to blame for a Madrid move not materialising, it seems, as he told Canal+ (h/t Goal's Jamie Smith) the youngster chose to remain in France.

Real had an identical offer to PSG accepted but seemingly couldn't provide the same home comforts:

"I remember we were training when we got the call from Real Madrid and accepted the €180m offer for Mbappe.

"Later, I saw him and told him 'we have received an offer that was impossible to refuse from the club of your dreams so tell me your answer.' We never wanted to make the choice for him, it was up to him to make his decision.

"He told me that he wanted to go to Paris and, after that, there were so many details that had to be resolved that, until the final moments, I doubted the deal."

No one is to say what can happen in the future, however. Former Real Madrid forward Fernando Morientes recently said the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu could be an ideal destination for one of PSG's stars after Cristiano Ronaldo left for Juventus, via Goal:

It was reported on Onda Cero programme El Transistor (h/t AS) that PSG chief Thomas Tuchel was more willing to sell Neymar than he was Mbappe, which is another sterling appraisal of his quality since joining the club.

Sportswriter Lucas Navarrete laid the blame at Real's feet for failing to get a deal over the line:

That regret seems only likely to increase the longer they're forced to watch his exploits from afar, with Perez having come so close to signing a player who looks destined for Ballon d'Or contention in the near future.