At 23, Kylian Mbappe is already on his way to becoming one of soccer’s biggest superstars. The player is already considered one of the best in the game at a young age. However, even a player like Mbappe draws inspiration from somewhere. The young player was looking up to other players in his early days to improve his soccer skills.
The PSG star has admitted looking up to Cristiano Ronaldo while growing up. Those around him have revealed his love for Ronaldo in multiple instances. Furthermore, the player himself has been seen gushing about the Portuguese player quite a few times.
Idol 👑🐐… @Cristiano pic.twitter.com/uZGEXnhuUB
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) October 11, 2020
Mbappe’s father, Wilfried shared, “He is a Real Madrid fan and his idol is Cristiano Ronaldo. He used to spend hours watching videos [of Ronaldo] on the internet.”
Former PSG player Jese Rodriquez has also opened up about Kylian Mbappe’s admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo. Jese Rodriguez revealed, “At PSG, Mbappé always asked about Real Madrid & Cristiano who has always been his idol, he always talked about him.”
Mbappe has also been seen emulating some of Ronaldo’s signature moves over the years. From goal celebrations to backheels. The player sometimes bears a striking similarity with his idol.
Zinedine Zidane won Kylian Mbappe’s heart before Ronaldo
Kylian Mbappe, however, considered Zinedine Zidane to be his first idol in soccer. The player has admitted that his first true idol has always been Zinedine Zidane.
Kylian Mbappe revealed in an interview, “My first (idol) was (Zinedine) Zidane for everything he achieved with the national team.” He further went on, “Then it was Cristiano Ronaldo. He has won a lot and continues to be a winner even after so much success.”
Mbappe’s decision to stick with PSG came as a surprise to many. The player looked to be on his way to joining Real Madrid when the interest came. But the young player chose to stay at PSG and continue playing with Lionel Messi, who is also considered one of the best players in the game.
After Portugal was knocked out of the FIFA World Cup 2022, Ronaldo shared a lengthy post on Instagram thanking the Portuguese fans for their immense support in the World Cup. Mbappe commented on the post with a series of emojis which also included the emoji of a goat. This is often used as a reference to ‘Greatest Of All Times’ or ‘GOAT’. Thus, making it clear who according to him is the real GOAT.
Kylian Mbappe took down Cristiano Ronaldo posters from his room
Mbappe has long since grown up from his teenage days. The player had once shared a picture of himself sitting in his room while being surrounded by pictures of his idol, Ronaldo.
In 2018, the player posted a picture on Instagram that highlighted his year. He won the World Cup with France in 2018 and thus, that could be deemed as one of the best years in his career. The picture he posted showed that Mbappe had taken down the pictures of his idol Ronaldo and replaced them with pictures of himself.
Many fans criticized the Frenchman for this act as they deemed it to be disrespectful towards the Portuguese player. However, Mbappe has shown his love and admiration for Ronaldo on several other occasions.
In an interview with the German publication Bild, the player hailed his idol, Ronaldo. Mbappe made his unreserved admiration for the veteran player clear by stating, “When I was a kid I dreamed about a lot of things, especially a career like Cristiano Ronaldo’s. When he plays, he makes everyone watching him happy. He’s been doing it 15 years, every football fan loves him.”
Furthermore, Mbappe showed humility as he revealed he still had a long way to go to be spoken of in the same breath as Ronaldo. He said, “I’m not that good. He has made history and I’ve been playing for five years, you can’t compare us. There are few quite like him, just by watching him I’ve learned a lot.”
These instances say a lot about the Frenchman’s respect for Ronaldo who he considers to be his idol.