REVEALED: Why Arsenal Didn't Sign Kylian Mbappe in 2016 When They Had the Chance

Arsenal could apparently have signed France superstar Kylian Mbappe two years ago, prior to his breakout at Monaco, but ultimately decided against the move because the money involved represented too much of a gamble for a player so young.

Mbappe, who is now is the second most expensive player of all time after completing a permanent transfer to Paris Saint-Germain following an initial loan, destroyed Argentina in the World Cup last 16 over the weekend.

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The South Americans couldn't live with the 19-year-old's pace, and he won a penalty and scored two goals of his own in the 4-3 thriller.

And, according to Guillem Balague, he could have been an Arsenal player two summers ago had the Gunners been willing to take a leap into the unknown and the pay the fee Mbappe's family wanted.

"At 17 there were a lot of teams interested in him - one of those was Arsenal," Balague explained on a video published on his YouTube channel.

"But his family and the agents asked for £7m. For a 17-year-old, Arsenal decided not to continue the conversation because there's always a risk.

Arsenal always had a reputation of being careful in the transfer market during the Arsene Wenger years, and two summers ago Mbappe had played only a handful of senior games for Monaco and scored just one goal.

It is the exact opposite approach that Real Madrid have had when it comes to teenagers in the transfer market in recent seasons, with Los Blancos coughing up €45m for Vinicius Junior while he was still only 16 and paying a similar amount for Rodrygo Goes just last month.

Of course, in hindsight it is easy to say that Arsenal should have just paid the cash.