From master of communication to divisive and even controversial figure: how Mbappé lost his aura
While he impressed the football world at the start of his career, with his masterful communication and unexpected maturity, Kylian Mbappé has experienced several episodes in recent years which have tarnished his image with the public.
How far away the summer of 2017 seems. kylian Mbappe is only 18 years old, he arrives at Paris Saint-Germain and during his first press conference, sitting next to the president Nasser Al-Khelaifi , he bluffs the whole world. He is only a very young adult but already, his maturity is obvious. He delivers the answers naturally, always with the right formula, and attracts the sympathy of all.
For a few months now and his emergence with AS Monaco, he has been the darling of the French public. He is this frail kid, twirling on the pitch and of hallucinatory simplicity off it. The one who celebrates the Monaco title without his phone, unlike all his teammates, more busy enjoying the festivities, and who arrives in the french team bringing a breath of fresh air.
His teammates say that he has his head screwed on. Kylian Mbappé is acclaimed by everyone. In the Intérieur Sport dedicated to him on Canal +, he already shows that he is confident, sure of himself. But he never crosses the yellow line of arrogance. His phrases become cult (“You’re not happy? Hat-trick”, “You don’t talk to me about age”) but in a good way.
“More responsibilities”
The first hitch in the player’s communication came in May 2019, during the UNFP Trophies presentation. After two years where he was voted best young player in the championship, Kylian Mbappé received the title of best player for the first time. He took on another dimension on the pitch and he made it felt when he went on stage to give his speech.
“I feel that it is perhaps the moment to have more responsibilities,” he says. “I hope that it will perhaps be at Paris Saint-Germain, it would be with great pleasure, or perhaps elsewhere for a new project.” The speech is not going down well. Observers accuse the player of overdoing it a bit and of displaying in public what should be resolved internally.
A painful break with Paris
In 2022, his extension at paris saint german was the occasion for a new press conference, where he recalled that he was very comfortable in front of journalists. He was clever, made people smile, gave his version of the facts after several cases that had punctuated the previous months. He explained the reason for his disagreements with the FFF concerning image rights, discussed his future in Paris and the signals were green.
A few months later, he publicly put Noel de Graet back in his place after he tackled Zinedine Zidane . A publicity stunt that was probably sincere, but also very successful. But very quickly, he was back in the news for his future, his understanding with Neymar and Lionel Messi at PSG. He became the center of discussions and not always for good reasons. His last season in the French capital accentuated the point.
In March, he was replaced at half-time in Monaco-PSG. He went to change and watch the second half in the stands, alongside his mother. The episode did not please. The end of his story with Paris was also tumultuous, as evidenced by the financial affair that currently opposes him to his former club. The breakup was painful and when he arrived in great style at Real Madrid , he no longer had the ideal image that he had a few years before.
Having become captain of the French team, he is singled out by some for his sometimes excessive importance. Part of the general public also does not understand why it was not Antoine Griezmann who inherited the armband. As soon as his performances do not follow, Kylian Mbappé is therefore in the eye of the storm.
“Football has changed”
Increasingly, the boy gives the impression of thinking of himself above all else. Last September, his statements at the gathering of the Blues go in this direction. “What people think is the least of my worries,” he says. A month, therefore, before his notable outing in stockholm, this week, while his teammates of the French team faced Israel.
“I am amazed because he has not accustomed us to this kind of behavior, of communication,” noted Emmanuel Petit in Rothen s’enflamme, on RMC. “He is a boy who has always controlled everything since the beginning of his career. Especially the first years, for me it was a delight to see him, on the field but also in his communication. He was spontaneous, there was no ulterior motive, there was no ‘me me me’. And then everything changed.”
Kylian Mbappé’s name is on everyone’s lips, but he has become divisive. He may not have anticipated it. In the not-so-distant past, the stars of the French team could afford the same kind of nightlife as him in Sweden and be spared. The times were more lenient, no doubt, with Zinédine Zidane or even more so with Michel Platini. But times have changed and Mbappé, who once trumpeted that “football has changed”, knows it well.
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