Pictured: World Cup winner Kylian Mbappé poses with Manchester City icon Sergio Aguero

Manchester City tried twice, unsuccessfully, to sign world football’s rising star Kylian Mbappé before his move to Paris Saint-Germain a year ago.

The first attempt was when he was an unknown to most, having found the net just once in 14 appearances for Monaco. City’s scouting department saw greatness, as they have a knack of doing in young players, but an offer of €40million was rejected by the principality club in the summer of 2016.

A year later, in 2017, City made another approach but PSG won the race to sign Mbappé, initially on a loan before a permanent €180million deal was finalised this summer.

Had City signed Mbappé, they would surely have partnered him with iconic striker Sergio Aguero in the Man City attack – and what a partnership that would have been, an absolute nightmare for Premier League and Champions League defences.

We may never get to see Mbappé at City now, but we can keep dreaming. In the meantime, the 19-year-old World Cup winner took to social media today to post a photo of himself and Aguero together while on vacation.

It’s a tantisiling look at what could be one of world football’s elite partnerships. Could City try again next year to link these two up on the pitch? They seem friendly enough off it…