Is Kylian Mbappe proving to be worth the £166m PSG will pay Monaco for him this summer?
Frenchman has had some flack from certain fans of the Ligue 1 club after scoring just four goals this season
FOR Kylian Mbappe life as an 18-year-old is very different to most.
Instead of going out on a Saturday night, he is playing for the world’s richest football club.
Instead of working a part-time job, he is being paid £140,000-a-week, and instead of worrying about his future, the Paris Saint-Germain striker is set for life.
But while Mbappe may be the envy of many a young man, not everything is straight forward.
In the past few weeks the French teenager has had to put up with criticism few 18-year-old's would ever experience - his talent and value is being questioned by hundreds of strangers.
A section of the PSG supporters – and the media – believe Mbappe is failing to justify the £166m fee the Parisians will pay Monaco next summer to turn his loan deal into a permanent one.
But why? We asked our friends at Football Whispers to look into that very question.
It’s incredible to think that only 12 months ago Mbappe wasn’t a guaranteed starter at Monaco.
Yes, he’d shown plenty of promise and his talent was clear, but he was a 17-year-old learning his craft.
His development, however, was rapid. He went from substitute to starter and an unknown to a household name within nine months.
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His exploits in the Champions League, where he scored six times in six games against Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus, stood out.
His goals in Ligue 1, and there were 15 of them, helped Monaco beat PSG to the title. Mbappe had become a genuine star and Europe’s elite were all interested in taking him from Monaco.
After much negotiating, PSG convinced Monaco to sell Mbappe fo £166m.
But, due to financial fair play constraints, he would join the Parisians on an initial loan deal before the move was made permanent next summer.
“For any young person from the Paris region, it is often a dream to wear the red and blue jersey and experience the unique atmosphere of the Parc des Princes,” he said.
"I really wanted to be a part of the club's project, which is one of the most ambitious in Europe.”
PSG’s project is to become the biggest club in world football and for that, Champions League dominance is needed.
It’s why they signed Neymar from Barcelona for a world record fee of £198m and why they will pay a huge sum of money for Mbappe.
But with such astronomical price-tags and wages comes high expectations.
Every weekend in Ligue 1 and every Champions League match-day, Neymar and Mbappe are expected to perform and make the difference, no matter the opposition.
The Brazilian superstar is doing just that. In his 12 games for the French club he has 11 goals and nine assists.
Mbappe, in contrast, has struck four times and set up five goals.
And perhaps that is why the striker is being criticised. Unfairly, PSG fans expect a similar output to what Neymar has delivered.
Perspective is needed, however. Neymar is a player with years of elite level football under his belt, he knows what it takes to perform week in, week out at the highest level.
Mbappe is still learning. He may be better than most, if not all, at his tender age but he will make mistakes and make wrong decisions.
He will become a better player having made them, but that may not be understood by the demanding PSG supporters.
"I have analysed his matches with us and, generally speaking, his performances are of a high quality," PSG coach Unai Emery said on Monday.
"However, it’s true that some of his showings were not as good as others.
"He has come here to develop and help PSG to grow. Competition is good. I want the team to be collective in their nature, but I’m satisfied with the way things have gone with Kylian.”
He added: “It is important to overcome these tough moments. You learn each and every day – even more so when you are still just 18. It is normal that he is going through a learning process.”
Mbappe is level-headed and will know a couple of poor performances aren’t the end of the world.
He may, like the supporters and the media, demand more from himself but that pressure is unlikely to help.
The France international is a star and one that has only just started to shine brightly.
With time and a bit of patience, he will rediscover the devastating form the produced last season. And any criticism will then be long forgotten.
