The meteoric rise of Kylian Mbappe.

Kylian Mbappe Lottin was born in December 1998 in Paris and it is apparent that sport runs within his family. Wilfried Mbappe, Kylian's father and agent, is a football coach, whilst his mother Fayza Lamari was a professional handball player. In addition, his younger brother also plays for Paris Saint Germain in a youth team capacity whilst his adoptive brother is also a professional footballer so it is clear that sports heavily influenced and shaped Kylian during his childhood, but how did this young man from Paris turn into a worldwide sensation by the age of 19?

Kylian began his football career at AS Bondy where he was coached by his father and it quickly became apparent that he was a special talent with one of his coaches, Antonio Riccardi, stating that at just the age of six Kylian was "fantastic" and "different", Riccardi went on to say “Kylian could do much more than the other children. His dribbling was already fantastic and he was much faster than the others. He was the best player I've ever seen in 15 years coaching here. In Paris there are many talents but I'd never seen a talent like him. He was what we call a 'craque' (the best)”. Mbappe clearly stood out from the crowd and in 2015, following interest from many of Europe's best clubs, Mbappe signed for AS Monaco's B-side, for whom he played impressively, scoring four goals in 12 appearances prior to joining the first team. The young star made his professional debut in a Ligue 1 match against Caen which resulted in a 1-1 draw, making him Monaco's youngest-ever first-team player aged 16 years 347 days, breaking a record previously held by the legend Thierry Henry. In regards to breaking records Mbappe was only just getting started, on the 20th February 2016 he became the youngest first team goal scorer in Monaco's history. However, the 2016-17 campaign saw Mbappe fully announce himself to the world, a stellar campaign for Monaco not only domestically but also in the Champions League saw him net 26 goals in 44 appearances, a season which also saw Monaco claim the Ligue 1 title. The teenage star had a stunning season which was capped off by a big money move to his boy-hood club Paris Saint Germain on loan with an obligation to buy for a reported fee of €145 million plus €35 million in add-ons, making him the most expensive teenager ever.

The arrival of Mbappe in the French capital saw him given the number 29 shirt and form a world class attacking trio with Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani and the worlds most expensive player, Neymar. On September 8th 2017, Mbappe scored on his debut in a 5-1 victory against Metz, additionally on December 6th of that same year, at the age of just 18 years and 11 months, Mbappe scored his 10th Champions League goal in a 3–1 defeat to Bayern Munich making him the youngest player in history to reach said landmark. Mbappe enjoyed another successful campaign, this time scoring 13 goals in 27 appearances in a campaign which saw him predominantly start from the wing and which also saw PSG fulfil their obligation to buy Mbappe, rewarding him with the number 7 shirt for the 2018-19 season, much to the delight of the French forward “It is something of an affirmation. The No. 7 shirt is a legendary one and many greats have worn it. I hope that I will be able to do this number justice on the pitch.”

In what has been a short yet already incredibly successful career, the 2018 World Cup must surely go down as his highlight and greatest achievement to date. The now 19 year old striker was called up for the French World Cup squad by manager Didier Deschamps and he scored his first World Cup goal in France's 1–0 win over Peru making him the youngest ever French goal scorer at a world cup, aged 19. On 30th June, he was named man of the match in a game which saw France defeat Argentina 4-3 and Kylian score, making him the second teenager to score two world cup goals since Pele, however, whilst he stated that it was great to achieve this landmark, he believes that he should not be compared to Pele whom he referred to as being in "another category". On July 15 2018, Kylian scored a long range strike and put in an impressive performance as France beat Croatia 4-2 in a final that did not disappoint and rounded off a world cup full of thrills and action packed games. Mbappe received the prestigious FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Award as well as praise from Pele, whom he was congratulated by on social media, Pele praised the young star simply stating “welcome to the club” and illustrating that this is just the beginning of what will certainly be a special career.