Kylian Mbappe is currently one of the best soccer stars in the world. Despite his young age, Mbappe has already become a force to reckon with in the soccer world. The French star’s incredible performances have already drawn comparisons with stars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. However, with respect to these comparisons, a former interview with Mbappe has recently resurfaced again.
According to MARCA, this interview with Kylian Mbappe dates back to 2021. During the interview, Mbappe talks about how it is to play against big personalities like Messi and Ronaldo. The PSG star said, “Every time I go on a pitch I always tell myself that I’m the best, and yet I have played on grounds where there was Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. They are better players than me, they have done a billion more things than me. “
Kylian Mbappé’s mentality is elite 👏 pic.twitter.com/Oi3zbveaZI
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 23, 2023
He further says, “But, in my head, I always tell myself that I’m the best because that way you don’t give yourself limits and you try to give your best.’ However, Mbappe’s comments have created a huge stir in the soccer world. His comments have left fans with divided opinions, with one section of fans appreciating Mbappe’s mentality, and another section criticizing him for it.
Here’s a series of Twitter reactions from fans:
Learnt from the best, Cristiano Ronaldo.
— Preeti (@MadridPreeti) March 23, 2023
The influence Cristiano Ronaldo has on young players is massive, the best player of all time for a reason. Messi influences nobody 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/rj0zKH20fg
— A. (@aymallseven) March 23, 2023
With this mentality there’s no way you ll pass ball to Messi score at psg … will always go for the glory
— Anero beezy𓃵 (@Anerobeezy2) March 23, 2023
Ronaldo said something like this one time and people were bashing him
— Olicity✨ (@Olicity_Dyla) March 23, 2023
But you people said ronaldo was arrogant when he said this same thing..
— DEJI FOREX 🇳🇬 (@iamdejiforex) March 23, 2023
Soccer fans also found a similarity between Mbappe’s comments and Cristiano Ronaldo’s. The Portuguese star has also previously said during his interviews that he believes himself to be the best soccer player ever. In addition to this, Mbappe has previously stated that he considers Ronaldo to be his idol, even though he recently may have changed his opinion after playing alongside Messi.
Kylian Mbappe clarifies what ego means to him
During the interview, Kylian Mbappe also talked about what ego meant to him. Mbappe said, “Of course [I have an ego], it’s important because when you’re in the rough, no one else is going to push you. And you have to convince yourself that you are capable of toppling mountains.“
The French talisman continued, “People don’t understand the ego, but when you are not well there is no one who will come to your house to tell you that you can do that. It’s just you and your mindset. It’s just you. You have to convince yourself that you are capable of doing great things.” Mbappe also went on to explain how his meaning of ego differed from other people’s opinions.
🗣 Kylian Mbappé :
“Accusations about my ego? I don’t have a problem with that. As a player my first priority is always to win. As a striker that needs to score goals sometimes I can over do things but it’s part of my job. I don’t win games as an individual, we win as a team”
— PSG Chief (@psg_chief) March 23, 2023
Mbappe said, “Of course, sometimes people do not understand because I think there is perhaps also this barrier which is created in relation to this subject, where one does not really explain what the ego is. For people, the ego is just not giving a friend a penalty, or having a better salary than the player of the rival team. It’s not just that, it’s also in the preparation.“
“There’s too much ego, too much power for a 24-year-old!” 😤@Carra23 weighs in on the Kylian Mbappé situation. pic.twitter.com/uN5NhaitqW
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 11, 2022
Over the years, Mbappe has been accused of having a huge ego and a bad attitude on the pitch. Mbappe even had a massive clash with ex-PSG manager Thomas Tuchel due to his ego when he criticized Tuchel for leaving him out of the starting line-up for a game. Former PSG player Jerome Rothen even called out Mbappe for having an “oversized ego” and asked the 2018 World Cup winner to keep it in check.
Can Kylian Mbappe break Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s records?
Although the word around the town is that Kylian Mbappe is the upcoming heir to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s throne, Mbappe certainly has his work cut out for him. Despite registering some incredible numbers so far, to replicate Messi and Ronaldo’s statistics is a Herculean task for any soccer player. Combined, Messi and Ronaldo have scored more than 1600 goals and won 9 Champions League titles.
🗣 Edmilson: “He [Mbappe] can do great things but Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been doing it consistently for the past 10 years, it is unbelievable.
“You can’t do this kind of comparison today, it is not logical.” pic.twitter.com/PTPWtQvOEH
— GOAL (@goal) April 2, 2019
In addition to this, they have also jointly won the Ballon d’Or on 12 occasions. However, if anyone can come close to replicating Messi and Ronaldo’s stats, it has to be Mbappe. Last year, Football Transfers compared Mbappe’s numbers to Messi and Ronaldo’s when they were 23. The statistics show that Mbappe has a staggering lead over Messi and Ronaldo.
For example, Mbappe at 23 had scored 197 goals. Compared to this, Ronaldo scored only 132 goals. On the other hand, Messi’s numbers were identical to Mbappe’s. Moreover, Mbappe had 111 assists compared to Messi’s 84 and Ronaldo’s 66. A couple of years back, another study was done, which compared the three soccer star’s performances after their first 50 games in the Champions League.
At just 22-years-old, 🇫🇷Kylian Mbappé has scored his first hat-trick in the knockout stages of the Champions League🏆#kylianmbappe #mbappe #psg #messi #ronaldo #championsleague #ucl #football #stats #22bet pic.twitter.com/KjDuY52uEL
— 22BET Naija🇳🇬 (@22betNaija) February 18, 2021
Mbappe had scored 29 goals in their first 50 matches in the Champions League compared to Messi’s 31 goals and Ronaldo’s 13. However, even though Mbappe has put up some impressive numbers, the real challenge for him would be to perform like this with the same consistency for the next decade. Of course, only time can tell whether Mbappe could overtake Messi and Ronaldo to become the greatest of all time.