Kylian the wizkid -Mbappé : A True Nigerian Blood!
ot many people know that the 19 years-old football prodigy currently ruling the world cup on the French side, also has a Nigerian blood running through his veins. Well, I didn’t know this fact, until recently. Kylian Mbappe, also known as ‘the 2nd Prince of Monaco’ does not only have a Nigerian blood, but, he proudly bears a Nigerian name; ‘Adesanmi’ (Yoruba, meaning; ‘Crown fits me’) given to him by his father at birth. This means that if the sensational ‘giant killer’ who is currently rated ‘most creative and agile teen in world football’ is to be properly addressed, it would be as: Kylian Adesanmi Mbappé.
Kylian’s father, Wilfried Mbappe has roots in Cameroon and Nigeria. He was once a refugee who migrated to France in search of greener pastures. In a bid to get a permanent stay in the French Country, Wilfried (a football coach) got married to an Algerian-French based citizen, Fayza (a former handball player). Both gave birth to Kylian on the 20th of December, 1998 and also to his younger brother, Ethan Adeyemi (Yoruba, meaning crown fits you), seven years after. They however, adopted a professional footballer of Congolese descent, Jirès Kembo Ekoko, who is the son of a late friend of Wilfried and who is 10 years older than Kylian.
Kylian began his career at AS Bondy, coached by his father, Wilfried.
“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,” said Atmane Airouche, President of AS Bondy, on Kylian as a child.
At the age of six, Kylian was seen as France’s best kid footballer and was recognised by the French Football Federation. His youth coach at AS Bondy, Antonio Riccardi, said of the teen wonder, “The first time I coached him was when he was six years old. You could tell he was different. Kylian could do much more than the other children. His dribbling was already fantastic and he was much faster than the others. He was the best player I’ve ever seen in 15 years coaching here. In Paris there are many talents but I’d never seen a talent like him. He was what we call a ‘craque’ (the best).”
This wonder kid shunned full time schooling just so he could focus on football. Eventually he moved to the Clairefontaine academy (a football academy where the best trained). His outstanding performances led to numerous clubs, including, 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 and even played a match for their youth team against Charlton Athletic, but, eventually settled for French club Monaco.
Kylian, who was technically on loan at Paris St-Germain from Monaco was expected to join the French champions on a full time after June 30th, £165.7 million making him the second most expensive player of all time, behind Neymar’s £177 million in 2017. But, that deal is threatened, as PSG faces Financial Fair Play investigation by UEFA and as Manchester United, Manchester City and Real Madrid are going head to head to sign the star teen.
Speaking of Kylian’s world cup performance against Argentina, former England captain Alan Shearer, was full of encomiums for the wiz kid: “At 19, to put in a performance like that, with millions watching and Messi at the other end, it was simply brilliant.”
He once idolised Cristiano Ronaldo, but today, Kylian is rated the brightest teenager in world football compared now only to the great Pele of Brazil. His father who doubles as his agent, and who set the ball rolling when he started coaching Kylian from a tender age, couldn’t be more proud of the outcome.