Decimating Gerard Pique while scoring Champions League hat-tricks and allowing your contract to enter its final 18 months is a pretty deadly combination when it comes to transfer rumours. 

Consequently, PSG star Kylian Mbappe is probably going to be the most discussed player in European football as we approach the summer window with his terms at Parc de Princes quickly winding down. 

A report from Spanish publication AS has provided some unique revelations in this respect.

Not particularly surprisingly, they've named Real Madrid as keen admirers and suggested the LaLiga giants are crunching the numbers in the hope of pulling off a summer swoop. 

But more interestingly, AS has also claimed that Mbappe is dead set on only playing as a left winger, something he's already expressed to Mauricio Pochettino and something that will apparently be a crucial factor in any potential move. 

It's suggested Mbappe will only join a club if there are assurances he'll be used as on the left, rather than on the right - where he featured predominantly for France at the 2018 World Cup - and as a centre-forward, which is actually the position Transfermarkt have recorded as his most frequently filled. 

For Real Madrid, that means bumping flopped signing Eden Hazard down the pecking order to make room for Mbappe in their starting XI.

But the claim doesn't only affect Los Blancos, because Liverpool have been continuously linked with Mbappe too.

Manager Jurgen Klopp has been described as a "huge fan" of the 22-year-old and Liverpool are said to be just one of four sides who can actually afford Mbappe at PSG's apparent asking price of €200m.

Liverpool fans seem more than convinced Mbappe could end up at Anfield - #Mbappe2021 has been a popular hashtag on social media for some time now, with supporters jumping on any crumb of information that suggests a move could go ahead. 

GIVEMESPORT's Christy Malyan says...

From Real Madrid's perspective, this is actually something of a blessing. While it will impact them financially, Mbappe's apparent condition of playing only on the left essentially gives them grounds to write off Hazard rather than trying to continue justifying his price-tag with more game-time. 

For Liverpool, however, it does muddy the waters somewhat. Mbappe may well be the player who succeeds Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the world's best, but what exactly becomes of resident left winger Sadio Mane if the French World Cup winner is brought to Anfield?

Mane is one of Liverpool's most reliable and important players. As well as providing at least 17 goal involvements in each of his full Premier League campaigns with Liverpool, he's a crucial cog in the Reds' forward press and tends to be a more consistent presence than Mohamed Salah who often drifts in and out of games. 

Perhaps he can be reinvented as a centre-forward with Roberto Firmino struggling of late, but ultimately that's just a theory. Right now, the big question is whether gaining Mbappe is worth losing Mane from Liverpool's first-choice starting XI.