Arsenal: Kylian Mbappe’s Anthony Martial parallel tough to ignore

Arsenal look to still be set on landing Kylian Mbappe, but the parallels with Anthony Martial should be considered, especially with Alexandre Lacazette.

Arsenal’s pursuit for a new striker is actually turning positive. Alexandre Lacazette is right there for the taking, all the Gunners have to do is pay the price that has been indicated. Do that, and a new striker, a solid, reliable, goal-scoring striker, is there’s.

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But there still seems to be a persistent interest in Kylian Mbappe despite the Nicholas Anelka parallel that would likely see him stay in North London for a few years before jumping over to Real Madrid to disappear into their coffers of extraordinary talent.

Regardless, the need for Mbappe is considerably diminished, perhaps even eradicated, with the arrival of Lacazette (which again, only feels like a matter of time). Why would we essentially rent a young starlet when we can have the commitment of a seasoned, yet still young, striker like Lacazette?

Which made me realize that the parallel that former Premier Leaguer David Ginola brought up has more credence than we might have initially thought. He compared Mbappe’s decision with that of Anthony Martial, saying:

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"“There have been instances in the past with Anthony Martial moving to Manchester United and honestly, staying another season at Monaco will probably be a good thing for him, just for him to settle at the top level a little bit more. Sometimes you see young players leaving their home to go somewhere bigger and they didn’t succeed because it’s too complicated and it’s too much pressure. Kylian Mbappe seems to have the right people around him. His dad and his agent are good advisors, so I guess he’s going to make the right choice.”"

There is sense in this. If he goes to Real Madrid, he won’t be starting. Or if he chooses to come to Arsenal when they already have Lacazette, he won’t be starting. He shouldn’t be, honestly, and that shoehorns him out wide, where he will run into the same frustrations that Martial has.

Mbappe is still young and malleable, he needs to figure out his own footing before he goes leaping across a cliff where he doesn’t know where he will land. If he is willing to commit himself to Arsenal and Wenger opts for him rather than Lacazette, then we can certainly have this conversation again under those new circumstances.

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But as it stands, Mbappe is looking to follow in the footsteps of Martial, and that isn’t a good thing.