Richard Keys has delivered a scathing assessment of former Arsenal-linked striker Kylian Mbappe. The presenter brutally shot down any notion of the Real Madrid star being in contention for the Ballon d'Or.
Mbappe's former club Paris Saint-Germain cruised to their first-ever Champions League - an accolade that eluded the Frenchman during his time at the superstar-laden team. Last summer, the 26-year-old finally ended his long-running transfer saga and completed a move to the Spanish giants.
Arsenal were one of the many club mooted with a move for the France superstar, as well as Premier League rivals Liverpool.
Mikel Arteta added fuel to the fire surrounding the future of Mbappe after he expressed his desire to leave PSG last season.
Ultimately, Mbappe decided to move to Real Madrid and was forced to watch as his former side beat Inter Milan in Munich.
While the Parisians got their name etched in the Champions League history books for the first time, Mbappe - who was brought in with the hope to fire them to that glory - watched on after Real Madrid were eliminated after a heavy aggregate defeat to Arsenal.
And Keys fired a brutal dig at Mbappe, rubbishing his chances of winning the famous personal accolade.
"I hope he's somewhere watching tonight thinking, 'do you know what I could've been part of this'," he said.
Panellist Andy Gray added: "Well, he wouldn't have been."
Keys continued: "I've saying if he stayed at Paris, he would have been in the final.
"So there you go."
When asked about Mbappe last season, Arteta said: "Maybe Edu and the owners are but I'm not involved [in the conversation] until the last stage.
"Why not? If we want to be the best team, then you need to have the best players, that's for sure.
"The club that we are, I don't think that's ever been an issue. Everyone wants to play for Arsenal.
"At least with the players we've discussed, they've always had a smile on their face when you open the door to that discussion.
"That's because of our history and everything we've done in the past."
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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