THIS FRENCH 19-YEAR-OLD IS A RISING GLOBAL GREAT
are. There’s no better place than a World Cup."
France coach Didier Deschamps, who captained the country to World Cup glory in 1998, acknowledges the attributes of the youngster and says there is much more to come in the future.
After reporters also drew comparisons with another Brazilian great, former striker Ronaldo, Deschamps admitted there are similarities.
"Ronaldo was a forward player who was very, very quick. I think Kylian is even quicker,” he said.
"But this is somebody who was a world champion compared to a young player who has lots of ability and qualities. He is only 19 years old and will make a lot of progress."
Mbappe was born in Paris to a Cameroonian father and an Algerian mother, providing an eclectic mix of cultures in his early years.
He has an adopted older brother, Jirès Kembo Ekoko, who is a former France under-21 international and is currently in Turkey playing for Bursaspor, having turned out most notably in Ligue 1 for Stade Rennes.
Mbappe spent the start of his junior career at AS Bondy, where he was coached by his father Wilfried.
He had a trial with Chelsea at age 11, but instead chose to play for Monaco, with interest already from the likes of Real Madrid.
He became Monaco’s youngest-yet first-team player when he debuted for the side in December 2015 at the age of 16 years 347 days, beating the previous record held by France legend Thierry Henry for 21 years.
His real breakthrough season was in 2016-17 when he netted 26 goals in 44 appearances, bringing about a move, initially on loan, to Paris St Germain for the past campaign, where he scored 21 goals from the same number of games.
The club have first option to sign him permanently, but must come up with a reported €145-million plus €35-million in add-ons, which would make him the most expensive teenager yet and the second-most expensive player of all time behind another PSG recruit, Neymar.