'It hurts my heart' - Arsene Wenger reveals his attempts to convince Kylian Mbappe to join Arsenal and why new Real Madrid star rejected the Gunners

Wenger spoke openly about visiting Mbappe's parents to convince them to swap first club Monaco for Arsenal. In the end, the family decided to stay put, resisting interest from Liverpool and Real Madrid, too.

The approach from Arsenal can be placed around 2016, when the player was 17 and making his senior breakthrough with Monaco. The following year, a childhood picture of Mbappe wearing a yellow Arsenal shirt from 2004 surfaced online. But, later that same year, he completed a loan move to Paris Saint-Germain with an obligation to buy worth €180 million. Earlier this month, football's worst kept secret was finally let out of the bag when Real Madrid announced his arrival.

"It was a footballing blow, and an obvious one too. Seeing a photo [of Mbappe wearing an Arsenal shirt], hurts my heart a little," Wenger told French broadcaster TF1. "I went to his parents and tried to convince them. At the time, he was a little shy, people were starting to ask him for his first autographs in Monaco. At the beginning of your career, you don't have too much pressure at the start and they managed to persuade him to extend it by promising him that he would play more easily at Monaco than at Arsenal, Liverpool or Real Madrid. We can say that his parents advised him well and that he made the right decision."

Mbappe is already a World Cup winner but will be keen to lead France to European Championship glory as captain over the coming weeks. Their campaign kicks off on June 17 against Austria. But he has been denied the opportunity to make it a marathon summer of international football after Madrid denied his wishes to also represent France at the Olympics.