Kylian Mbappé

**Kylian Mbappé Lottin** (French pronunciation: ​[kiljan (ɛ)mbape]; born 20 December 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. He is considered the world's most expensive player from a transfer value perspective by the CIES.

Mbappé came into prominence at an early age, starring for the youth academy at Bondy before gaining a move to Monaco,
 where he made his professional debut in 2015, aged 16. Mbappé then
quickly established himself as a regular goalscorer for the first team
in the 2016–17 season,
 as he helped the club gain their first Ligue 1 title in seventeen
years. A year later, he transferred to Paris Saint-Germain for
€180 million, making him the most expensive teenager, and the world's second-most expensive player.[4] In his debut season in the French capital, Mbappé featured heavily as the club captured a domestic treble of Ligue 1, Coupe de France, and Coupe de la Ligue.
Mbappé made his senior debut for France in 2017.

## Early life

Mbappé was born in Paris, France.[3] His father, Wilfried Mbappé, is from Cameroon, and, as well as being his agent, is a football coach, while his mother, Fayza Lamari, is of Algerian origin and is a former handball player.[8][9] He has a younger brother, Ethan Mbappé, who plays for PSG under-12s.[10][11] His adoptive brother, Jirès Kembo Ekoko, is also a professional football player.[12] Growing up, his idol was Cristiano Ronaldo, a player he looked to emulate.[13][14]

## Club career

### Early career

"He had technique and
vision in the game that most children just don't have. He's got eyes in
the back of his head. He knows how to anticipate where the ball will go.
 Here, he never played for his proper age group, he always played with
older children because there was no point leaving him with kids his own
age."

Mbappé began his career at AS Bondy, coached by his father, Wilfried.
 Another of his youth coaches at AS Bondy, Antonio Riccardi, stated,

Eventually he moved to the Clairefontaine academy, putting on a host of impressive performances leading to numerous French clubs, and Real Madrid, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, attempting to sign him.[9] Mbappé travelled to London for a trial with Chelsea when he was 11, playing a match for their youth team against Charlton Athletic.[16] He ultimately settled on Monaco.[17]

### Monaco

#### 2015–16 season

Mbappé made his first team debut on 2 December 2015 in a 1–1 Ligue 1 home draw against SM Caen, replacing Fábio Coentrão after 88 minutes. He therefore became Monaco's youngest-ever first-team player aged 16 years 347 days and breaking Thierry Henry's record set 21 years previously.[17][18]

On 20 February 2016, Mbappé scored his first goal for the club's
first team, a stoppage-time goal in a home Ligue 1 3–1 win over Troyes;
 at the age of 17 years and 62 days, he became the youngest first team
goalscorer in Monaco's history—once again displacing Henry in the
process.[19][20] On 6 March 2016, Mbappé signed his first professional contract, a three-year deal, tying him Monaco until June 2019.[21] In an interview with CNN, Vadim Vasilyev,
 AS Monaco's vice-president, who played a key role in Mbappé signing his
 first professional contract with the Ligue 1 club, stated that he knew
early on that Mbappé was a "phenomenon."[22]

#### 2016–17 season

Mbappé warming up for Monaco in 2017

Mbappé scored the first hat-trick of his first team career on 14 December 2016 in the 7–0 rout of Stade Rennais in the Coupe de la Ligue round of 16 at the Stade Louis II[18][23] – the first hat-trick scored by any Monaco player in the competition since Sonny Anderson in 1997.[24]

On 11 February 2017, Mbappé scored the first Ligue 1 hat-trick of his career in the 5–0 home win over Metz; at 18 years and two months he became the youngest player to score a Ligue 1 hat-trick since Jérémy Ménez did it for FC Sochaux-Montbéliard back in 2005.[25]

On 21 February, Mbappé scored Monaco's second goal in the 40th minute with a half-volley after receiving Fabinho's long ball over the opponents' back line (it was his first ever UEFA Europa League or UEFA Champions League goal and he became the second youngest French scorer in UEFA Champions League history behind Karim Benzema) in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg match against Manchester City, which Monaco lost 5–3.[26][27] On 5 March, Mbappé scored two first-half goals in the 4–0 Ligue 1 home win over FC Nantes to bring his Ligue 1 career tally to ten goals and become the youngest player in the last 30 years to hit the Ligue 1/Division 1 ten-career-goals mark. His brace against Nantes on 5 March brought up his 2016–2017 season tally to nine Ligue 1 goals and five Ligue 1 assists in just 822 minutes of Ligue 1 football.[28][29] On 11 March, he scored a goal in the 2–1 Ligue 1 home win against FC Girondins de Bordeaux to register his seventh Ligue 1 goal in his last four starts.[30]

In the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg match at the
Stade Louis II on 15 March, he made the score 1–0 for Monaco in the 8th
minute by turning home Bernardo Silva's
 low cross from close-range (his 11th goal in his past 11 matches in all
 competitions) to help Monaco beat Manchester City 3–1 (aggregate score
6–6) and advance to the quarter-finals on the away goals rule.[31] In the quarter-finals against Borussia Dortmund, Mbappé won a penalty and scored two goals as Monaco won the away leg 3–2.[32] In the second leg, Mbappé opened the scoring as Monaco won 3–1 and advanced to the semi-finals.[33] Monaco were eliminated from the Champions League 4–1 on aggregate by Juventus, with Mbappé scoring Monaco's lone goal in the second leg.[34] Mbappé ended the 2016–17 season with 26 goals from 44 matches in all competitions as Monaco won the Ligue 1 title.[35]

## Player profile

### Style of play and reception

Mbappé’s movement has been compared to former French star Thierry Henry and Brazilian forward Ronaldo

Mbappé has been described by Arsène Wenger as a "huge football talent" who "has similarities to Thierry Henry".[62] His talent and precocious performances for France at the 2018 World Cup also led him to be compared to Pelé in the media.[63] A versatile forward, Mbappé often plays as a winger, and is capable of playing on either flank, due to his ability with either foot.[64][65]
 He is capable of cutting into the centre onto his stronger right foot
from the left wing, and is also capable of creating chances and
providing assists for teammates from the right due to his vision.[66][67][68][69] He is also able to play in the centre as a main striker, due to his composure, clinical finishing, and eye for goal.[70][71][72][73] A highly skilful player, Mbappé is also known for his excellent dribbling
 ability, as well as his explosive acceleration, agility, quick feet,
and creativity when in possession of the ball, as demonstrated by his
use of elaborate feints, such as step overs, or sudden changes of pace or direction to beat opponents in one on one situations.[74][75][76] In spite of his tall lean frame, he is also an athletic player, gifted with physical strength.[77]

In addition to his technical skills, Mbappé is also highly
regarded for his outstanding pace and close ball control when dribbling
at speed, as well as his intelligent movement and ability to beat the
defensive line by making attacking runs into space both on and off the
ball; his ability to time his runs enables him to stretch opposing
defences, and also make him a dangerous offensive threat on
counter-attacks.[66][75][78][79] Regarding Mbappé's ability to run at defences, former France international Nicolas Anelka stated, "He reminds me of Ronaldo of the 1996 Olympics.
 He has the characteristics of a world-class player and he must manage
them properly. If he follows Ronaldo's career, 'O Phenomenon', he will
be one of the legends that has made history in the sport."[80] When Stefan de Vrij, central defender for Inter Milan
 and the Netherlands, was asked of his toughest opponent, he placed
Mbappé ahead of anyone else, including Mbappé's childhood idol Cristiano
 Ronaldo.[81] In 2018 Mbappé was considered the world's most expensive player from a transfer value perspective by the CIES.[82]

## Outside football

### Personal life

In a 2018 interview with *Time*,
 Mbappé spoke about the sacrifices he made as a teenager to focus on his
 football development: “I did not have the moments of so-called normal
people during adolescence, like going out with friends, enjoying good
times.” But despite missing out on a "normal" life, Mbappé states he is
"living the life he always dreamed of".[83] Just over two years after making his professional debut he has over 20 million Instagram followers.[83] While he has admits his “life has been totally turned upside down” since he first entered the spotlight, he says he is “happy”.[83]

### Media and sponsorship

Mbappé has a sponsorship deal with sportswear and equipment supplier Nike. In 2017, his prodigious talent saw Nike launch his own personalized football boots at age 18, the Kylian Mbappé Nike Hypervenom 3.[84] In 2018, he unveiled the Nike Mercurial Superfly VI boots which were inspired by the R9 Mercurial boots of former Brazilian striker Ronaldo.[85]

Mbappé features in EA Sports' *FIFA* video game series:
on *FIFA 18* he had the highest potential rating of 94.[86][87] His trademark goal celebration
 – posing with his arms folded and hands tucked under his armpits – was
inspired by his younger brother Ethan who would celebrate in this manner
 when beating Kylian at *FIFA*.[88][89] The celebration appears in *FIFA 19*.[90]

### Philanthropy

On 22 February 2018, Mbappé was joined by two of Africa’s greatest strikers, former A.C. Milan forward and current Liberia President George Weah, and former Chelsea forward Didier Drogba, in a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and FIFA president Gianni Infantino at the Élysée Palace in Paris that focused on a sports development project in Africa.[91] Mbappé stated that the development of African sport is important to him due to his parents' African origins.[92]