Real Madrid suffer transfer blow as Manchester City’s owner Sheikh Mansour issues “mandate” to sign Kylain Mbappe “at any cost”

Reports in England claim Manchester City could beat Real Madrid to the signing of Kylian Mbappe by pouncing for the France hotshot before his Paris Saint-Germain contract expires at the end of the season.

Sheikh Mansour, the owner of the reigning Premier League champions, has issued a ‘mandate’ to make prolific Mbappe the club’s newest striker ‘at any cost’, according to transfer gurus.

Mega-wealthy Mansour has ordered a move for PSG top scorer Mbappe that could be completed as early as the January transfer window, the Transfer Window has reported.

Real Madrid are desperate to sign the World Cup winner, failing with two bids before the summer transfer window closed on August 31.

The Liga giants confirmed to the Daily Mail in August that they had a second offer of €170m (£145m) plus €10m (£9m) emphatically rejected by PSG, who stand to lose the man they signed on a permanent basis for £166m in 2018 for nothing next summer.

Los Blancos had tabled an initial bid of £137m for the 22-year-old less than a week earlier.