Former Manchester City and French midfielder Samir Nasri was recently very quick to put his finger on why Paris St Germain had struggled again in the Champions League. “Without him, PSG can’t do anything. They need Mbappe to be at his best if they are to qualify.”
It’s a line that’s heard again and again. Kylian Mbappe is the ace in the pack for a team that can’t rely on their history in the competition. What he has achieved for club and country in less than eight years is even more impressive.
Kylian Mbappé's Rise
If it appears that 25-year-old Mbappe has been around for longer, it’s probably because his evolution as a player has been meteoric. He stormed onto the European stage as a teenager, scoring in the last 16, quarterfinals, and semi-finals of Europe’s elite competition in 2017 for an exciting Monaco team that suited his electric pace.
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Many might claim that it was the making of the young forward as he stroked in 15 Ligue 1 goals and six in the UCL. The following summer he was destined for the bright lights of Paris for a season-long loan and a mandatory fee of £190 million to complete the permanent deal to mainstream success for France’s most successful and richest club.
A step back in time is necessary to chart how the young tyro blazed a trail to the very top. He played at youth level for AS Bondy in a tough suburb of Paris, a club temporarily managed by his father. Growing up, Mbappe was obsessed with Cristiano Ronaldo, but he was also a uniquely focused individual who knew his career path. The talented youngster was always playing above his age group, even when at the prestigious INF Clairefontaine academy. No session was ever enough, and he would do more ball skills in the dead of the night when lights were out.
When Mbappe was 11 years old, he traveled to West London to train with Chelsea for a week. Four years later, he trained with Real Madrid’s U15 team and Zinedine Zidane gave him a tour of all the facilities. The big cheeses of Europe sniffed that something very special was happening.
The move to PSG was a step up in his football education in a more competitive environment. Mbappe was already incredibly mature, almost as much of a natural in front of a press conference as in front of goal. When he made a full debut in national colors against Spain in 2017, L’Equipe was moved to call his interview “a lesson in freshness and communication.”
On the pitch, the forward went into overdrive as France won the 2018 World Cup in Russia, taking the Best Young Player Award. He was the youngest French goal scorer in World Cup history and knocked out Argentina in the last 16 with a brace.
“Ronaldo was very, very quick. But I think Kylian is even quicker,” said French manager Didier Deschamps. Any sports bet that had Mbappe down for a goal in the final was a good punt given that Croatia’s goalkeeper was struggling to move. It played out like a dream as the PSG striker celebrated with a winner’s medal and France’s fourth.
Mbappe continued to raise the bar for his club and has broken all kinds of records, scoring 27, 28, and 29 goals in the domestic campaign over the last three seasons He has won five Ligue One titles and three Coupes de France trophies, propelling them to another final in recent times with a strike against Stade Rennais. In his last season with the French champions, he can add even more as he stands as the leading all-time scorer for PSG.
He was especially electric under Thomas Tuchel when the German galvanized the mavericks in the team and got them to the 2020 Champions League final. That one trophy still eludes the player, but he is now coming into a peak age where anything is still possible.
It is simply incredible what Mbappe has achieved at still such a tender age, especially when looking back on the 2022 edition of the World Cup when his hat-trick in the final almost ruined the Lionel Messi narrative.
His overall tally of eight was double the amount he netted four years previously, delivering the best consolation prize, the Golden Boot. In a team that looked devoid of energy on the biggest stage, the No. 10’s performance was described as “scintillating” and “magnificent,” by Deschamps.
“My mother always told me that before being a great player I have to be a great man,” Mbappe told America’s premier publication Time magazine in 2018. Mbappe’s humility and his presence on the pitch should be around for a long time to come. Defenses everywhere should be prepared, starting at Euro 2024.