Former Barcelona sporting director Javier Bordas explains they could've bought Kylian Mbappe over Ousmane Dembele

Former Barcelona sporting director Javier Bordas has revealed the club could have signed Kylian Mbappe instead of Ousmane Dembele back in 2017.

Dembele joined Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in a £135.5 million move three years ago, which at the time was the second most-expensive transfer of all-time. It followed Neymar's £200 million switch from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.

While Dembele has struggled to impress at the Nou Camp, Mbappe has flourished into one of Europe's brightest players since leaving AS Monaco.

Speaking to Mundo Deportivo, Bordas opened up on the story of how Barcelona missed out on the 21-year-old forward.

"I called [Kylian] Mbappe’s father and he told me that he was not going to go to Madrid because Cristiano [Ronaldo], [Karim] Benzema, and [Gareth] Bale were there and instead he could go to Barca because Neymar had left. The president of Monaco also preferred us over PSG. We had the option to buy Mbappe for €100m when we were pursuing [Ousmane] Dembele. The explanation at the time was that Mbappe plays for himself and Dembele plays for the team. For 100 million we could’ve bought Mbappe."

Bordas added that there were other young talents he recommended to Barcelona when they were available for a low price.

“I had recommended many players to the club like Haaland, Ferran Torres, Dani Olmo, etc. and they were all for €20m."

Ousmane Dembele's Barcelona career hasn't gone as planned

Ousmane Dembele has made 82 appearances for Barcelona, scoring 22 goals and providing seven assists. In comparison, Kylian Mbappe has scored 97 goals and recorded 58 assists in 132 games since switching Monaco for PSG in the same year as Dembele's Barcelona arrival.

This season, Dembele has scored three goal and made one assist, however, he hasn't created a single chance in all competitions. He has averaged 0.83 goals per 90 minutes, with only Lionel Messi and Ansu Fati scoring more this term.

Dembele is yet to get anywhere near repaying the hefty price tag placed on his head by Dortmund, but he's still just 23 years old.

There's plenty of time for him to develop into the player he promised to become, but perhaps Barcelona will now be kicking themselves after seeing the player Mbappe is now.