Manchester City signing Kylian Mbappe from PSG 'not going to happen' - Pep Guardiola

Posted Tuesday, October 02, 2018 by ESPN

WALLDORF, Germany -- Pep Guardiola has ruled out any chance of a move for Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe insisting "that is not going to happen."

Reports suggested that Manchester City were planning a £200 million move for the World Cup-winning striker with the French champions potentially facing Financial Fear Play issues.

"That is not going to happen," Guardiola told a news conference ahead of City's Champions League clash with German side Hoffenheim. "Sometimes I don't understand where that news comes from.

"Man City doesn't have or is going to spend the money that Mbappe and PSG deserve. PSG is not going to sell this kind of player to any other sort of club in the next years, I guess. So that is not going to happen. Mbappe is not going to come here and we are not going to swap Raheem [Sterling] or any other top player that we have.

"People should be more respectful of PSG, respectful of Manchester City, for the players from PSG, for the players from Man City, they should have more respect.

"Of course I am the second person to know exactly which players are targets, which players I want to sell or something like that. But it is what it is."

The City manager will have striker Sergio Aguero available for Tuesday's crucial game with Hoffenheim despite the Argentine still suffering from a heel problem, which has troubled him in recent weeks.

Kevin De Bruyne returned to full training on Monday morning as he continues his recovery from a knee ligament injury but the trip to the Bundesliga side has come too early for the midfielder. Meanwhile, injured full-backs Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph were also left behind.

Guardiola is desperate for a win after their shock defeat to Lyon in their Group F opener at the Etihad Stadium two weeks ago. City were overwhelming favourites to qualify from the group, but the Spaniard, who has won the competition twice, says a difficult group stage could be a timely reminder of how tough the competition is.

PSG's Kylian Mbappe Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

"It's so tough," Guardiola said. "In the last five or six years we've made a step forward -- maybe we need to live a moment [like this] in the competition, the last two seasons when I'm here and we qualified quite comfortably.

"Maybe you have to realise that you suffer in the group stage to realise and make a step forward. If we were not able to do that, it's because we are not good enough and we must prepare much better for next season."

Captain Vincent Kompany knows how difficult the competition is to win, having never progressed beyond the semifinals in his nine years at the club.

The Belgian is in the final year of his contract and would love to add a European medal to his City collection, which includes three Premier League titles.

"I'd love to win it with City, but it's such a tough competition to win," he said. "It's okay to say we want to win it but there's other teams who are just as well-equipped to win it.

"We've got to deal with the fact we lost to Lyon and worry about Hoffenheim and then if we get momentum, anything is possible.

"It's the last step we haven't achieved yet and the club is always aiming to progress."