Five years ago, Kylian Mbappé was barely of age. On September 6, 2017, on the pitch of Parc des Princes, he was a young kid who poses with his new red and blue jersey, with the number 29. Despite the 180 million billed to PSG for his transfer, the assurance that he stands out in his slightly loose suit and tie is still quite relative. But already, all eyes are on the promise it embodies.
Five years later, only one thing has not changed: all eyes are still on him. For everything else, the contrast is striking. UNFP crowned him with a third consecutive title of the best player in Ligue 1, on Sunday, May 15, Kylian Mbappé walked in the middle of a crowd hanging on his slightest gestures with the assurance of kings.
In a double-breasted tuxedo now cut to perfection, the French wonder-kid took his place between Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry in the audience without ever passing for an intruder, quite the contrary. Since last summer, two of the most powerful clubs in the world have engaged in a fight to the death to afford his signature.
Until May 21, when he entered alongside Nasser al-Khelaïfi on the pitch of Parc des Princes, at the last game of the season between PSG and Metz, to announce what was already whispered throughout the day: Mbappé and Paris will extend the footballing adventure.
Kylian Mbappe: Anything, Early Records, & Decisive Goals
If there is one person who sums up perfectly what Kylian Mbappé has produced since signing for PSG, it is the one to whom he was enormously compared when he started out: Thierry Henry. “What he does is absolutely magical,”
In five years, the sporting dimension taken by Kylian Mbappé, both at PSG and in the French team, is monumental. “As soon as he arrived, you felt his special character, replaces the former Parisian titi Tripy Makonda (2002-2011). And yet, he had only been playing pro for one season.
In five years, Paris has witnessed the development of a player who already knew how to do almost everything better than everyone else, but who worked hard to do it even better. Not only for his speed and his sense of goal, which allowed him to climb in five ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimović in the ranking of PSG scorers with 171 goals but not only. “Beyond his physical evolution, his palette has broadened overall, said Vincent Guérin, who defended Parisian colors between 1992 and 1998.
He was a devourer of spaces, today he is patient, he arrives to attract the opponent, to win, to ask for balls with their backs to the game, which he did less when he was younger, more carefree. »
More than a versatile striker who strings together goals like pearls, Kylian Mbappé has become indispensable to Paris Saint-Germain on the pitch over the years. To compensate for the recurring absences of Neymar and Marco Verratti, the usual technical leaders, the departure of Edinson Cavani, the chief gunner, or the poor form of Leo Messi, the Bondynois has, to use his own words :
“More responsibilities” . “There was a changeover at the end of last season , notes Tripy Makonda. In the title race with Lille, PSG were behind, and they took the lead. The match that symbolizes this is against Saint-Étienne at the Parc. We feel that he is galvanized, he wants to win, he is the one who pushes the team despite the absence of the other stars. “
Often considered a notch below, both on and off the pitch, Neymar or more recently Messi, Mbappé has claimed for the past 18 months that he is PSG’s greatest sporting asset. Vincent Guérin has another example in mind:
“His match against Real at the Parc des Princes. He creates the goal all by himself in the last moments, manages to dribble three players into a mouse hole, it’s an exceptional action and an unexpected moment.
In five years, the French number 7 will have hooked Bayern, Manchester United, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Manchester City on his C1 roster for often decisive goals. There is almost no problem that Kylian Mbappé has not been able to answer on the pitch. He is excluded from a Classic in Marseille because of a delay in a talk? He scores on his first ball and changes the course of the match. He is copiously whistled at the start of the season after having wanted to join Real in the summer? He is having his best season in the PSG jersey and ends it being the only player unanimously applauded by the Parc des Princes.
Off The Pitch, Unmatched Too
Summarizing the evolution of Kylian Mbappé over the past five years as an athlete – even if it is the most important, let’s not forget – would however be reductive.
“Not everything is measurable, quantifiable, but of course a player like Kylian Mbappé has a huge impact off the pitch ,” = Antonio Di Cianni, director of football at Football Benchmark. Among the figures available to him, he cites “the player’s market value, his development, the share of his market value in the PSG workforce, but also his number of followers on social media” ,
Which has also gone from just over 24 million in 2019 to over 95 million today across platforms. And then, there are certain things where one guesses his imprint.
In June 2017, before the arrival of Mbappé and Neymar, the commercial income of PSG is estimated at 275 million euros. A year later, it rises to 310 million. Two years later, they are at 377 million. 100 million more in two years is almost unmatched in the football industry. Even Juve didn’t make such a leap with Ronaldo.
Over the seasons, although Mbappé rubs shoulders with some of the finest names in Paris, his name and his face have taken up more and more space in the branding and marketing of Paris Saint-Germain. And it is not his extension, which will undoubtedly place him at the top of the PSG salary grid ahead of Messi and Neymar, which should change the trend.
If Paris has decided to do everything to extend its jewel, resuscitating the “whatever the cost”, is that he is aware that he has in his hands the most bankable player in the world. And that there will be many ways to capitalize on the massive investment that its extension represents.
Antonio Di Cianni, again: “In recent months, with the expiration of his contract, his market value had fallen. From the moment he extended, it is estimated to be 250 million euros. Again, this is unmatched. »
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The Holy Word
In recent months, the endless soap opera about his future has proven one thing: Kylian Mbappé has, in five years in Paris, entered the category of players who can boast of being bigger than certain clubs. The only uncertainty about his future brought two of the most powerful clubs in the world to their knees, which he drove around until the last minute without ever being an absolute certainty.
In recent days, in particular, the question of Mbappé’s extension or departure was arguably both the most discussed topic in the world of football and its best-kept secret.
“I can tell you that there are heads of state who would like to have Mbappé’s sense of confidentiality”, says communications expert Frank Tapiro.
Of him, Emmanuel Macron said in a column published in L’Équipe in January: “Kylian Mbappé has a rare awareness of his role, of the weight of his words, of the force of his actions.
Communication and image have always been central elements in the career of Kylian Mbappé, and all the more so in recent months with this new status that he has endorsed and the central place that has taken, according to several echoes, the question of his image rights in the negotiation of his future contract. “He has always been an excellent communicator, said Frank Tapiro.
Already at 18 in Monaco, he was aware of what he was, of his talent, of his role model. He always knew he had to always be on top and cultivate his difference. “ When this difference has sometimes been able to materialize in a great ambition qualified as arrogance, Mbappé has learned over time to balance his speeches and position.”
Some will think his communication is clumsy at times, but that’s good because he protects himself and those around him,” said Tripy Makonda. He doesn’t say anything, he lets it be said, even if it could sometimes annoy him. But he remains master of his story.
A mastery that therefore led him to extend his PSG deal. After five years in which he will have grown immensely as a man and as a player, continuing at PSG with the prospect of becoming the greatest player in the history of the club, helping lift his first Champions League.
His inclusion at the center of a project now clearly built around it is finally consistent with its history, since its beginnings. However piqued the pride of Madrid maybe, it’s a safe bet that they will never really close the door to such a player and that his childhood dream of wearing the white tunic will come true one day.
After all, at 23, Kylian Mbappé still has time, and in particular, as crazy as it may seem, time to progress and improve. The proof is: while, “I am very happy to continue the adventure, to stay here in France, in Paris, in my city. I have always said that Paris is my home. And after what PSG has been through, it’s hard to say until when.
