Mbappe puts himself ahead of Messi in Ballon d’Or race
ELITE LIST France star also names Ronaldo, Neymar, Modric and Varane for marquee award PARIS:
He starred at the World Cup and now Paris Saint-Germain ace Kylian Mbappe has ranked himself a stronger Ballon d’Or contender than Lionel Messi.
France forward Mbappe, 19, scooped the FIFA Young Player award in Russia as his country were crowned champions earlier this month. The teenager’s exceptional run of performances could see him come into contention for European football’s most coveted individual prize, which has been shared between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the last decade.
Mbappe, however, found no place for the former when asked by France Football to name his favourites for this year’s honour.
Five-time winner Ronaldo, Golden Ball recipient Luka Modric, fellow France international Raphael Varane and PSG teammate Neymar all got the nod on his five-man shortlist. “To complete it, I think I would put myself in there too,” he added.
The forward’s recognition of Neymar came soon after the Brazil star spoke highly of the pair’s relationship.
While the attackers are set to battle it out for top billing at PSG, Mbappe insisted they remain on the same wavelength. “Not much will change in our collaboration and cohabitation. Things are clear between us,” he said.
Mbappe finished seventh in last year’s Ballon d’Or count, while Neymar came third for the second time.
INJURY STRUGGLES Mbappe also revealed he played the final two games of their triumphant World Cup campaign with a back injury.
His campaign could have been ended early after he picked up an injury prior to France’s 1-0 semifinal victory over Belgium in St Petersburg. Mbappe was still troubled by the problem in the final against Croatia, but it was 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015
Note: Between 2010 and 2015, the award was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year. The partnership ended in 2016
kept under wraps . “The bottom line was really not to alert our opponents because they could have taken advantage of that to attack me in this sensitive area,” he told France Football.