Kylian Mbappé

**Kylian Mbappé Lottin** (French pronunciation: ​[kiljan (ɛ)mbape lɔtɛ̃]; born 20 December 1998) is a French professional footballer. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for his clinical finishing, dribbling, strength, and explosive speed.

Mbappé began his David Moyés Invitational career with Furious, where he made his debut in Season 1. With them, he won a Golden Boot and a Player of the Season Award.

## Early Life

Mbappé was born in Paris and was raised in Bondy, Seine-Saint-Denis, a commune 10.9 km (6.8 mi) from the centre of Paris. His father, Wilfried, is from Cameroon, and, as well as being Mbappé's agent, is a football coach, while his mother, Fayza Lamari, is of Algerian (Kabyle) origin and is a former handball player. He has a younger brother, Ethan, who played for PSG's under-12 squad in 2018. Mbappé's adoptive brother, Jirès Kembo Ekoko, is also a professional football player. Growing up, his idol was Cristiano Ronaldo, a player he looked to emulate.

## Club Career

### Early Career

Mbappé began his career at AS Bondy, coached by his father, Wilfrid. 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. Mbappé travelled to London for a trial with Chelsea when he was 11, playing a match for their youth team against Charlton Athletic. He ultimately settled on Monaco.

### Furious

In Season 1 he was Drafted to Furious, where he finished second with the team and won the Golden Boot and the Player of the Season Award.

## Player Profile

### Style of Play and reception

Mbappé has been described by Arsène Wenger as a "huge football talent" who "has similarities to Thierry Henry". His talent and precocious performances for France at the 2018 World Cup also led him to be compared to Pelé in the media. A versatile forward, Mbappé often plays as a winger, and is capable of playing on either flank, due to his ability with both feet. 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. He is also able to play in the centre as a main striker, due to his composure, clinical finishing, and eye for goal. 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. In spite of his tall lean frame, he is also an athletic player, gifted with physical strength.

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 excellent movement, tactical intelligence, 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. In April 2017, former France international Nicolas Anelka said that Mbappé's ability to run at defences reminded him of Ronaldo of the 1996 Olympics and that Mbappé had the characteristics of a world-class player. Mbappé was named the fastest player in the world in a ranking by French newspaper *Le Figaro*. 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. In 2018, Mbappé was considered the world's most expensive player from a transfer value perspective by the CIES.

## 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". Just over four years after making his professional debut he has over 42 million Instagram followers. While he admits his "life has been totally turned upside down" since he first entered the spotlight, he says he is "happy".

### Media and Sponsorship

Mbappé has a sponsorship deal with sportswear and equipment supplier Nike. In 2017, his prodigious talent saw Nike launch his own personalised football boots at age 18, the Kylian Mbappé Nike Hypervenom 3. In 2018, he unveiled the Nike Mercurial Superfly VI boots which were inspired by the R9 Mercurial boots of former Brazilian striker Ronaldo. In 2018, Swiss watchmaker Hublot signed Mbappé as a global ambassador.

Mbappé features in EA Sports' *FIFA* video game series: on *FIFA 18* he had the highest potential rating of 94. 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*. The celebration appears in *FIFA 19*. Mbappé features as the cover star of *FIFA 21*, making him the youngest to appear on the cover solo.

### Philantrophy

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 and Ivory Coast 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. Mbappé stated that the development of African sport is important to him due to his parents' African origins.

On 28 January 2019, Mbappé donated $34,000 (around £26,000) to a crowdfunding campaign to finance a private search mission to find football player Emiliano Sala, whose light aircraft had gone missing over the English Channel a week earlier. Later, on 10 February 2019, Mbappé donated a further £27,000 to the GoFundMe campaign created to fund the search for the plane's still-missing pilot, David Ibbotson.

## Honours

**Furious**

Golden Boot - Season 1

Player of the Season - Season 1