Kylian Mbappe would be a welcome addition at Real Madrid for midfielder Luka Modric, with the French forward’s immediate future still clouded in uncertainty.
The Paris Saint-Germain attacker has just over a year left on his contract at the Parc des Princes, with manager Mauricio Pochettino previously speaking in optimistic terms over the prospect of a renewal.
But Mbappe is known to have admirers at most of the elite sides in Europe and has been linked most regularly with Real Madrid and Liverpool - who coincidentally meet in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Wednesday night.
One night previous, it was Mbappe whose team progressed to the semi-finals as PSG lost on the night but knocked out holders Bayern Munich on away goals.
Speaking ahead of Real’s fixture at Anfield, Modric made it clear that he was among the legions of those who see Mbappe as a top individual, pointing to his own club’s history of signing that calibre of player - despite stopping short of actually adding to the rumours.
“Mbappe is a great player and he’s proved that with his national team and PSG,” Modric said.
“Great players are always welcome at Real Madrid, but it wouldn’t be right of me to speak about players at other clubs, particularly at this stage of the season.
“We’ll have to see what happens next season, but he’s a top player and is amongst the best in the world.”
Mbappe, at 22, has already won the World Cup and four league titles - three with PSG, one with Monaco - and reached last year’s Champions League final.
There he and his side were defeated, but they’ll have designs on going one better this time around now that Bayern have been eliminated. They face the winners of Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund in the last four, with the second leg of that clash also taking place on Wednesday night.
