The Beginning
Having stepped on the scene with AS Monaco II on 25th November 2015, little did French youngster Kylian Mbappe suspect that next two years will see him get propelled to a football orbit.
Less than two years actually, on 23rd October 2017, now a flag bearer at French giants Paris Saint-Germain Mbappe has been voted the Golden Boy, picking the prestigious award for the best young player in Europe as a huge recognition for his talent, quality and incredible rise to prominence.
The world football’s scouts have long had the name Kylian Mbappe written in their notebooks.
The talented French kid has been making huge waves ever since his father Wilfried introduced him to football at AS Bondy. Having gone through the renowned Clairefontaine academy Mbappe turned heads of clubs such as Real Madrid and Valencia, ultimately Chelsea where he even went for a trial.
Hitting it Big
Having eventually settled on AC Monaco in 2015, the French international did not waste any time in rushing towards full prominence.
It was last year that the 18-year-old forward hit the brightest stage when he scored six Champions League goals to push AS Monaco through to the semi-finals. Mbappe played an important role in his team’s Ligue 1 title winning season by scoring impressive 15 goals.
Mbappe took the brightest stage by storm and never looked backed, scoring 25 goals and registering 12 assists in 51 games for club and country in 2017.
The second-best Champions League scorer in 2017 with eight goals to his name behind Cristiano Ronaldo’s 15, Kylian Mbappe has fended off impressive competition from Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele and Manchester United starlet Marcus Rashford to claim the Golden Boy prize.
Mbappe won by an overwhelming 291 votes, almost double the score Ousmane Dembele got (149). Rashford came third, Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus finished the race fourth whereas it is AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma who completes the top 5.
Recognition
Mbappe’s 2017 Golden Boy victory means France now has most winners of this admired award than any other nation – thanks to Paul Pogba (2013) and Anthony Martial (2015) – and few would argue this year’s choice was an undeserved one.
The Golden Boy award winner was determined according to various aspects but it’s fair to say Mbappe ticked most of the boxes to scoop it ahead of the competition in the end.
Youth perhaps should not be a determining factor but the fact 18-year-old boy is playing on par or even better than players years his senior is impressive in its own merit. Produced by the same club as the French icon Thierry Henry he keeps getting compared to, Kylian Mbappe is not long way off from replicating the iconic Arsenal forward’s career.
Kylian Mbappe’s is following Henry’s similarly impressive rapid growth rate, whereas it is their physical similarities that underline the biggest part of the comparison. The PSG starlet boasts same speed, skill set, grace in movement and a touch of brilliance with his finish that it’s almost impossible not to see a bit of Thierry Henry in him.
In addition to being technically talented, Kylian Mbappe is also an intelligent player too which once again makes likeliness to Thierry Henry a natural one.
AS Monaco immediately knew it would be difficult to hold on to Mbappe for much long given the fact his flying form and imposing qualities alarmed the host of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Bright Future
Paris Saint-Germain knew exactly what needed to be done and were quick to offer an irresistible offer both for the club and the player to secure Mbappe’s signature on a loan deal with an option to buy which would make him the world’s second most expensive player behind another PSG star Neymar.
PSG have invested in their own future. They copied the Barcelona model and formed a partnership that is likely to last for a long time and – hopefully – bring results in this year already.
Four points ahead of last season’s champions AS Monaco, Paris Saint-Germain are main favourites to lift the Ligue 1 title this season. Bookmakers see Paris Saint-Germain as 1/25 frontrunners to lift the domestic trophy, whereas the biggest value lies in betting on the Parisians to achieve Champions League glory.
The European trophy has eluded Paris Saint-Germain for a while but after a strong start in Europe’s elite competition PSG now stands neck-to-neck with reigning champions Real Madrid at 9/2 betting oddse to claim the European throne.
And if Kylian Mbappe continues his flying run of form, few would argue that PSG can’t do it.
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