Mauricio Pochettino has already told Chelsea about Kylian Mbappe and Harry Kane transfer dream

Only Thomas Tuchel has seen Kylian Mbappe score more goals under his stewardship than Mauricio Pochettino. The German also managed 23 more games in his time at Paris Saint-Germain where Mbappe was in the team, both of their records are remarkable.

The Frenchman’s 83 goals in 98 games with 46 assists under Tuchel is a feat of unprecedented scoring at in France, eclipsing what Neymar or Lionel Messi have been capable of. Across five years in Paris he already has over 200 goals and 90 assists in just more than 250 games.

He is, at 24, a global superstar that has won the World Cup, reached the final another time, been runner up for the Champions League and totally broken Ligue 1 football for the duration of his time there. Since breaking through at Monaco he has been one of the best and most consistent players in the world.

Still four months from his 25th birthday he has 244 career professional goals and 125 assists in 325 games. At a career rate of 1.13 contributions per game his output is nearly unmatched, only by fellow lab-made goalscoring monsters Erling Haaland, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi.

Under Pochettino that rate stood at 1.34 goal contributions per game, a staggering amount to carry over 18 months. Tuchel’s final result was 1.31. Considering the German lead Mbappe to the cusp of European glory and Pochettino is widely seen as a disappointment for his up-and-down time in Paris, the numbers tell a different story.

For all the talk of riffs between the front three – that forced the new Chelsea boss to rejig his high-pressing approach to accomodate for three off-ball passengers but technical and output demons – the goalscoring results are staggering, even for the much maligned and doubted French league.

Now Mbappe appears set to leave PSG, as he does every six months or so, and Pochettino is back in work, it is only natural that early links have emerged between the Blues and Les Bleus’ undoubted world star. The 24-year-old has turned down the chance to extend his two-year deal beyond 2024 and with PSG fearing losing the £154 million ($193.8m) player for free next summer, he could be sold this window.

Chelsea need a striker and Mbappe is certainly one of the best around. Pochettino is a big fan of his as well. Speaking in November last year he said to Gazzetta dello Sport: “Mbappe is younger [than Neymar and Messi] and still immature.

“He is an animal; he has great charisma but he still needs to find himself. Leo and Ney are total players, they are more responsible although in different ways, while Kylian keeps looking for himself.

“It is difficult for him to distinguish the moments of the game when he has to take a risk and when he should not. He does not enjoy association with his teammates unless he’s in the defensive third of the pitch, because he needs space to make the most of his strengths.”

He continued: “Kylian finds no pleasure in having the ball, he only enjoys it when he can run and finish. He is a fast player who needs to see a hare in front of him in order to (have the motivation) catch it.

“Leo, Ney, and even Benzema are stable, they have found the maturity that Mbappe has not yet reached. He is evolving. We have not yet to see the best version of him.”

It was widely seen as criticism but Pochettino’s demands on developing players, especially young ones, cannot be lost. It is a drive that has lead him to success with some of the best attackers in the world game. He also lifted the lid on a previously failed move to Spain for the attacker.

“We will see how this process will be affected by what has happened in recent months, with the failure move to Real Madrid,” he mused at the time.

Only months earlier he had already been asked about the chances of Mbappe playing at Santiago Bernabeu. “What I think is that PSG has done everything possible to retain Kylian and I also agree with that,” he told Infobae.

“He is one of the best players in world football today and I think that PSG, having all the resources to do it, have convinced him to stay.

“But I don’t think Kylian is the one who designed the new project either. Those who rule, in this case the president, are those who would have thought that the most convenient thing was a new project in the club.”