KYLIAN MBAPPE, 22

Paris Saintgermain,

Forward confess to you that I do not know him. I don’t watch football a lot when I’m home. I have a baby to take care of,” Manchester City’s Belgian star Kevin De Bruyne told reporters in February 2017, when he was asked about a young talent on the Monaco team named Kylian Mbappe. This was just before the two teams met in a Champions League knockout tie. By the end of that tie, De Bruyne had learnt quite a bit about the French forward, whose two goals over the two legs were crucial in knocking City out of the competition.

A little over a year later, De Bruyne admitted his mistake. “He is a star for the next 10 to 15 years,” he said of Mbappe, ahead of Belgium’s World Cup semi-final clash against France. France would go on to reach the final, and Mbappe would score to secure his country’s triumph.

Only 22, it is somewhat difficult to believe that Mbappe has already scored a combined

“I170 goals for club and country. He was the world’s most expensive teenager when Paris Saintgermain bought him for 180 million Euros in 2017. If he is to move again, Mbappe, now an even better and more versatile forward who is blessed with explosive speed, is sure to challenge club teammate Neymar’s world record transfer fee of 222 million Euros.

“I scored exactly 1,025, so 1,000 goals is possible for him,” Brazilian great Pele told AFP in 2019. At the rate the young Frenchman is going, Pele’s projection doesn’t look far-fetched.

Born in Paris, football courses through his blood. Father Wilfried Mbappe, originally from Cameroon, is his agent but more importantly was his first coach at AS Bondy. His mother Fayza Lamari, originally from Algeria, is a former handball player. His brothers Ethan and Jires Kembo Ekoko play football too.