When Kylian Mbappe was on the verge of leaving Paris Saint Germain for Real Madrid, the President of France, Emmanuel Macron had to intervene and persuade him to stay put in Paris.
Such has been the blitz and eternal charm of Mbappe that a President of one of the most powerful nations on the planet had to squeeze out time to convince him otherwise. No other player had received such a privilege in modern times.
After much deliberation, Mbappe snubbed Los Blancos and decided to stay, a decision he came to regret after a couple of months. The 24-year-old now feels left out and betrayed at PSG who promised him a better sporting project and a free hand in the decision-making policies of the first team.
But to see a player of his calibre, caged, is blasphemy of the highest order, especially when he was brought up in an environment that only builds high-tech footballing robots. Confused?
Recently, a photo of young Mbappe with Zinedine Zidane emerged on the Internet which brought forth interesting speculation.
Throughout his time since he was a little boy, Mbappe has always been around the greats of the game.
One can find photos of young Mbappe with Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry which depict that the French forward has always been in the company of the greats.
This has often been credited to Mbappe’s family who were avid football fanatics and wanted him to meet some of the greatest players of the game.
It was clear that they wanted their child to inculcate the same habits and playing style that these players possessed. No matter Mbappe has grown up admiring Ronaldo and Henry; even his attacking prowess has glimpses of both his idols.
But after witnessing Mbappe’s robust strength and agility on the pitch, many fans believe that his tireless ability to deliver game after game is inhuman.
Mbappe returned to PSG’s training after three days of playing one of the most intense finals of the FIFA World Cup. If this isn’t a testament to his alien-like strength, who knows what is?
The fans even have a name for it — Project Mbappe, which points to a secret lab experiment if science fiction movies are to be believed.
Saw a youtube documentary where his uncle and dad who were football coaches, that made sure he was exposed to all the greats, he literally mapped his life out from development until he gets to Madrid..
— Khaya Maloney (@KhayaMaloney) January 9, 2023
They dont call it "project Mbappe" for nothing
— don catanha (@DonCatanha) January 9, 2023
It isn’t only the fans who praise his abilities day in and day out but France’s greatest-ever player (arguably), Zidane has been a fan of Mbappe since he learned of him. A 14-year-old Mbappe was invited to train with Real Madrid when Zidane was a Sporting Director at the club.
Zizou picked Mbappe and his family from the airport and drove them to the training centre. Mbappe was awestruck, having met the idol of his entire footballing life. Since then, mutual admiration has been consistently ever-growing.
The latest display of Mbappe’s affection towards Zidane was on display when the President of the French Football Federation (FFF) hurled disrespectful words at the former Real Madrid manager.
Mbappe jumped in and called out this disrespect which shows us that the student is still in awe of his teacher. His tweet read – “Zidane is France, we don’t disrespect the legend like that”.
The love affair between Zidane and Mbappe is expected to continue but if Mbappe wants to chase greatness again, he cannot keep Real Madrid waiting anymore.
