Kylian Mbappé is the great genuine star of French football. After starting at the team closest to his home, AS Bondy, Kylian arrived free at the Monaco academy. In the Principality, the forward began to stand out as one of the great promises of Europe and after his transfer to Paris, this has become the king of the Parc des Princes, although always a shared throne. Before it was with Neymar, now also with Messi.
The attacker is a product of Ligue 1, but with just weeks to go until his contract ends, there is talk of a possible change of destination pointing to Madrid as the main point to start a new stage. Bondy’s, yes, left the door open even to stay in the capital of El Hexágono. “I did not make the decision,” he assured, invoking the same moment that LeBron James or Griezmann decided to make public in the form of a documentary or open letters.
To try to get Mbappé to stay and in response, Pochettino set him challenges to meet in France and, although he dominates Ligue 1, he assured that it is not small at all and it is a championship at the level of the player. “Since I arrived, I have always had a lot of respect for Ligue 1. I have always had respect for the coaches, the players and the teams. Do not underestimate this championship, absolutely! We must respect him as much as the others,” he said. the Argentine who has also passed through LaLiga (Espanyol) and the Premier League (Tottenham and Southampton).
In that championship, yes, he has also become, in the opinion of Murphy’s coach, “one of the three, four or five best players in the world. There is no doubt about it.” This is how he responded when asked if he was already at the top, a peak on which, for the time being, he did not want to place him in an indisputable way.
His performances both in the League and in the Champions League give truth to Pochettino’s diagnosis of the level that the French attacker is showing. Unrestrained by injuries, the Parisian has accumulated 38 games in which he has scored 28 goals and has distributed another 17 goals to his teammates. His last performance against Lorient confirms that the level is at its highest and it remains to be seen where his talent will lead.
At the moment, he displayed it without hesitation against Real Madrid in both parts of the tie, but the stellar performance of Karim Benzema, his teammate and friend, made him lose his dream of the Champions League. This elimination, recognized the Argentine, still hurts. “I don’t think a wound as deep as elimination from the Champions League can be healed so quickly. It will take time. But it was good to win, to continue on the right track in Ligue 1, which is the only competition we have until the end of the season,” he added.
This was also the reason for the whistle on Sergio Ramos for Pochettino. “It’s a consequence of the frustration and disappointment of being eliminated from the Champions League, but Sergio is a great champion like the other players on the squad,” he said.