Receiving a monthly salary of 1.7 million USD, the 19-year-old star does not drive a supercar and no longer idolizes Ronaldo but still considers himself a ‘kid’.
60 years after Pele’s time, a player under 20 scored 2 goals at the World Cup. Photo: CNBC.
A few years ago, Kylian Mbappe was a boy growing up in the poor suburb of Bondy. After every football practice session, he returned to a bedroom filled with pictures of his idol Cristiano Ronaldo.
At the age of 19, Mbappe’s career flourished when he played prominently for the national team, leading France to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup. In early July, the young talent officially joined the Paris Club. -Saint Germain (PSG). The transfer fee was up to 217 million USD, the second highest in history after the contract value of teammate Neymar. The striker joined the “rich” team last year, on loan from AS Monaco with a clause allowing PSG to buy him outright at the end of the season.
Mbappe used to idolize Ronaldo but now he doesn’t. Photo: Twitter.
Mbappe is proving that he is worthy of the above huge number at the biggest football festival on the planet. In the convincing round of 1/8 victory over Argentina on June 30, number 10 of the French team was the one who brought the home team a penalty, from an impressive acceleration that forced the South American defender to pull him down in the penalty area. M10 then contributed two goals, becoming the first player under 20 years old to score two goals at a World Cup finals since Pele in 1958.
The French striker also left a big mark at the club level with 13 goals and 7 assists in just 28 Ligue 1 appearances, helping PSG win the national championship last season.
Mbappe is praised in his hometown of Bondy. Photo: Twitter.
New talent of France from the cradle of crime
In 1998, Zidane and his teammates won the World Cup championship in France. Just 12 km from where they were crowned, a new football talent was also born that year.
Mbappe’s hometown of Bondy is among the “banlieues” (areas on the outskirts of major French cities), often stereotyped as a place where the poor working class, communities of color, riots, and social conflicts gather. association and cradle of crime and terrorism.
Rising from a banlieue and being successful is not easy. However, this year’s French squad has up to 8 players from the banlieue, including Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi. Residents of these areas praise the boys’ story and dream of following in their footsteps. In Bondy, people even painted a giant portrait of Mbappe on the wall of an old building.
“He’s the best kid I’ve trained, maybe the best kid in my entire coaching life,” said Antonio Riccardi, one of the player’s first coaches at his hometown team. AS Bondy flavor.
The 11-year-old player came to play a trial match for Chelsea. Photo: The Sun.
Mbappe quickly stood out from the age of 6. Riccardi shared that his star student knows how to listen, an important quality for any athlete to have if they want to reach stardom. This coach said: “He understood very quickly. You point Mbappe once, the second time he did it.”
Rejected Chelsea and Real Madrid since his teens
Player hunters from top clubs soon searched for young talent. At the age of 11, Mbappe accepted an invitation to train for a week at Chelsea. Three years later, it was Real Madrid’s turn to give the 14-year-old boy a trip to Bernabeu Stadium to meet his idols Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane. However, just participating as a form of experience, Mbappe and his family rejected recruitment offers from two big teams.
The star debuted on the professional field at AS Monaco at the age of 17 and quickly etched his name on the golden board as the youngest player to ever score for this club, a record previously held by Thierry Henry. The following year, Mbappe was the most sought-after 18-year-old player in the world, when he and Monaco reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.
All the top European clubs you can think of are trying to approach the young stars of the 2016-2017 season, from Real Madrid, Manchester City to Arsenal. Realizing that Mbappe had many of the same qualities as his student Thierry Henry, coach Arsenge Wenger at that time even offered to buy the striker he admired for 163 million USD, three times the club record. Most recently, even Manchester United also tried to attract Mbappe, before he signed a long-term contract with his hometown capital team.
Even though he is a loan player, the 19-year-old striker helped PSG win the French National Championship. Photo: EPA.
Young stars are humble
The French striker believes that hard work and dedication are the two main factors that brought him to today’s success. He believes: “In football, everything is possible through diligent practice and that is an important factor. I always believe in myself, that I can do great things. But it’s not just desire and desire.” So we have to be diligent.”
Mbappe’s estimated assets at age 19 are $82 million. Fame came quite early, but the player is remembered as someone who maintained a humble and generous lifestyle.
Until last year, Mbappe still lived in the club dormitory, with the simple comfort of a cable TV for him to watch all his favorite football channels. It’s not uncommon for young superstars to quickly become famous with collections of expensive items, online buzz, or constant partying, but those aren’t the things that concern M10.
Mbappe runs fastest at World Cup 2018. Photo: Reuters .
He donated his salary of 22,300 USD from each World Cup match to Premiers de Cordees, an association specializing in organizing sporting events for disabled children. Even though PSG is paid a monthly salary of 1.7 million USD, the young player does not want to waste money.
“I may be progressing faster than my age, but in real life I’m still just a kid,” the 19-year-old World Cup striker honestly said.
Mbappe said: “Playing soccer is not the same as driving a Ferrari. I don’t have any supercars and that doesn’t matter.”
