Borussia Dortmund wanted to sign Kylian Mbappe on a free transfer in 2016

Former Borussia Dortmund chief scout Sven Mislintat has revealed that the Black and Yellows were interested in signing Kylian Mbappe on a free transfer from AS Monaco in 2016.

Sven Mislintat was a guest on the Kicker meets DAZN podcast, where he said that if Borussia Dortmund had been able to sign Mbappe on a free transfer in 2016, it would have been a mega deal. The VfB Stuttgart sporting director added:

"“It was a real shame that we couldn’t find an opening to sign Kylian. Kylian Mbappe was available on a free transfer at a certain point in time and there were many clubs who were interested. But we had no chance of signing him at that time. If we had been able to steal Mbappe from Monaco for free at the time, it would have been a mega deal, of course.”"

Mbappe was attracting plenty of interest after making his AS Monaco debut in December 2015. Borussia Dortmund were among a number of clubs interested in signing him on a free transfer. But the Frenchman decided to sign a professional contract with AS Monaco instead.

Kylian Mbappe then enjoyed a memorable breakthrough campaign with AS Monaco in the 2016/17 season, as he led them to the Ligue 1 title by scoring 26 goals in 44 matches. The highly rated forward also scored three goals in AS Monaco’s win over Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals that year.

AS Monaco’s rivals Paris Saint-Germain then went on to sign Mbappe for a deal worth around 180 million euros in the following summer. He has since helped PSG win three Ligue 1 titles in a row, and also won the FIFA World Cup with France in 2018.

Borussia Dortmund ended up signing Ousmane Dembele from Stade Rennes in 2016. The French winger made an immediate impact at the Westfalenstadion, scoring ten goals and providing 22 assists in his debut season with the club. But he left just one year later, joining FC Barcelona for a club record fee.