Kylian Mbappe is a French international and Paris St-Germain (PSG) player. The wonder kid was born in Bondy, the Paris banlieue or suburb on 20th December 1998. He was raised by his Cameroonian father, Wilfried and Algerian mother, Fayza Lamari. Mbappe was among the French world cup winning team in Russia, where he scored 4goals, including one in the final as France beat Croatia 4-2. He played a vital role too that made the victory seem more personal than patriotic.
After years of hardship, with unemployment rate constituting over 22%, Bondy’s world cup celebration in July was more complicated than French officials had implied. Interestingly, Bondy was among those places that erupted in controversial protest in 2005, when Mbappe was just 6years old. However, the area’s joy was for the town’s local boys who made positive societal impact. Also, he had a trial at Chelsea but joined Monaco in 2013 at the age of 14. This was after two years at the French national football Centre, Clairefontaine. Although he now lives together with his family in central Paris.
Mbappe made his debut in December 2015 – beating Thierry Henry’s 21 year record to become Monaco’s youngest ever player aged 16years, 347days. According to history, he is the first player to score in each of his first Champions League knockout games. Last season, he scored six goals in 10 Champions League outings.
Furthermore, many French nationals and football loving fans all over the world believe that Mbappe is more than just an ordinary soccer player. He is a living testimony of from ‘grass to grace’ fairy tale, growing up from Paris’s hard-hit immigrant banlieues, whose crumbling high-risk blocks ring the city’s striking core. Still on banlieues, 8 players of the world cup winning team also grew up there. And like Mbappe, sons of African immigrants from the low-income banlieues. They include stars like Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante and Blaise Matiudi.
Interestingly, “Africa won the world cup”, was a comment from Daily show host Trevor Noah, who is South African, after France’s victory. However, the remark brought fury from France that made the French Ambassador to the U.S., Gerard Araud shoot back, saying “They are French citizens and they are proud of their country”.
Kylian Mbappe signed for Paris St-Germain from Monaco on a season-long, with an option to make the deal permanent for 180million euros (E165.7m). Why the loan? The wordings in the PSG announcement is key, it stated that they can’t officially say that it’s a loan which will become a permanent deal because if they did, then the transfer fee will be added to this year’s accounts (giving them a huge Financial Fair Play problem). So they have opted for an “option” on initiating a permanent deal that will keep him in the team permanently because if they did then, they would be in FFP bother.
As a teenager, he scored his first goal for France in their 4-0 victory over the Netherlands in a world cup qualification match. He became France’s youngest goal scorer since 1963. While at Monaco, he scored 26 goals in 44 games. That year, they reached the Champions League semi-finals and won ligue 1. Currently at PSG, he has netted 15 times in 29 Ligue 1 matches in 2016-2017. With 26 goals and 11 assists in matches last season, he scored or assisted a goal for every 71minutes he played.
Mbappe was recently named the winner of the Kopa Trophy for young player of the year, 2018 . By scoring in the world cup final, he became the second teenager to hold the record. Massive achievement because only the Brazilian great, Pele, previously achieved the feat in 1958. Mbappe is undoubtedly a devastating player. At his age, with such level of physical strength, technique, pace and movement with and without the ball, he is phenomenal. Many people love him and agree that he is the future of football.
