Kylian Mbappé — A Golden Year
In the last twelve months, Kylian Mbappé has experienced a meteoric rise to footballing stardom not seen for some time. At age 20, he is a World Cup winner and a household name with the brightest future in the game.
He is currently ranked as the most valuable footballer in the world according to the CIES football observatory and transfermarkt.com who estimate his market valuation at above €200 million.
In January of this year he was considered to be one of many bright young prospects like Christian Pulisic and Gianluigi Donnarumma. However, Mbappé’s name wasn’t really known outside of the social circles of the most ardent football observers.
The Frenchman first caught the attention of the footballing world in the knockout rounds of the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League with world class performances against the likes of Manchester City and Juventus, he was just 18.
His Monaco team claimed the French title that same season, breaking PSG’s 4 year monopoly and reached the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2004.
Kylian finished that season with 26 goals and 14 assists in all competitions. PSG purchased the teen in summer 2017, bolstering their star-studded line-up to re-establish their domestic dominance.
Mbappé’s excellent form continued in his first season for the capital club, making the €135 million PSG ultimately paid Monaco look like a bargain.
Shortly before the 2018 World Cup began, the French FA gave the teen their iconic number 10 jersey; a decision that surprised many, myself included. Journalists began cranking out articles questioning if young Mbappé could cope with the pressure of the shirt and emulate predecessors like Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini.
It was a clear statement of intent from the French FA, showing the world just how much faith they had in their teenage prodigy.
In Russia, Mbappé vindicated their decision emphatically by becoming their youngest ever World Cup goalscorer. In their round of 16 tie against Argentina, he became the second ever teenager to score two goals in a World Cup game.
This was the match where the world truly began to take stock of Mbappé’s talent. His blistering pace and direct dribbling was reminiscent of a young Brazilian Ronaldo, and he had the finishing to match.
Les Bleus ultimately became World Champions and Mbappé was named as the best young player of the tournament, the whole world knew his name now.
When the domestic season resumed a month later, the status quo in Ligue 1 shifted. Opposition defenders began paying that much more attention to Mbappé, fouling him incessantly.
The youngster, unused to this treatment frequently returned the violence meted out to him. In September he got his first ever red card in a game where he scored twice.
Mbappé quickly learned to cope with this newfound scrutiny, becoming that much more deliberate with his runs and touches. He has improved his all-round game significantly in the last five months.
On October 7, he scored an astonishing 4 times in 13 minutes as PSG beat their strongest domestic rivals Lyon 5–0.
Although Neymar is clearly the most talented player in PSG’s lineup, Mbappé has enjoyed the lion’s share of media attention and fan adulation. The young Frenchman turned 20 just 4 days ago and is well on course to cement his name among the greats.
The sky is the limit, Kylian.
