The rise of Kylian Mbappe this season has been truly startling.

From relative obscurity, the Monaco forward has shot himself into the spotlight with a stellar season, scoring 24 goals to date.

As a result of his fine form, Monaco have reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and everyone is intrigued to see how he fares against one of the most formidable defences in Europe in the shape of Juventus later this week.

Despite still being just 18-years-old, Mbappe has already been linked with various gigantic moves to some of the biggest clubs in the world.

Naturally, many of the Premier League's giants are among those linked with acquiring his signature but some reports claim whoever does sign the Monaco starlet will have to cough up as much as £100 million.

One of those interested parties might just be kicking themselves behind closed doors, however, after turning down the chance to sign Mbappe for just £17,000 when he was just 14.

According to The Sun, Chelsea had the opportunity to sign one of the world's hottest prospects when he came to Stamford Bridge while playing for his father's amateur team.

However, the Blues could not be persuaded to part with the £17k compensation fee required to bring Mbappe to their academy.

Instead, they decided to promote prospects Tammy Abraham and Dominic Solanke.

Abraham has been on fire on loan at Bristol City in the Championship this year while Solanke has been linked with a potential switch to Liverpool and is expected to leave in the summer.

But Mbappe has left them both in his wake with the nature of his meteoric rise over the last eight months.

Real Madrid were also said to be interested at the time but he eventually ended up at Monaco's highly-respected Clairefontaine academy and hasn't looked back since.

Both Madrid and Chelsea are believed to be interested in signing the young striker in the summer. It is rather safe to assume £17,000 will not be quite enough this time around, though.