As a 16-year-old, Ethan Mbappé is still at the beginning of his professional career at Paris St. Germain. The fact that world star Kylian Mbappé is his brother helps him, but could also become a problem.
Vitamin B can traditionally be very helpful in professional life. A close connection to a “big player” in the business area in which you would like to become a big player yourself. Especially in football, such relationships can also become a burden. Because in such cases the expectations can become so high that players are broken by them. And Kylian Mbappé apparently also sees this danger with his little brother Ethan.
“He will have pressure because of his name, I didn’t have that. I wish him only the best, but he doesn’t have to follow in my footsteps,” said the superstar of the French national team and Paris St. Germain.
Ethan Mbappé – already a star online
But the question of whether Ethan can have a similar career to his big brother was also the big topic when he made his competitive debut with the PSG professionals before Christmas. Like Kylian, Ethan can call himself a player in Ligue 1 before his 17th birthday on Friday (December 29, 2023). There is always speculation as to how much the surname Mbappé helped him in terms of sport. When Kylian is linked to a possible transfer, it is sometimes claimed that Ethan is also under contract with Paris to keep his brother at the club.
One thing is certain: Kylian boosted his brother’s career in the early stages. The younger Mbappé is already under contract with sporting goods giant Nike and already has well over three million followers on Instagram. There he also received over 500,000 likes for his post after his professional debut against Metz (3-1) on December 20th. “I’m proud to have been able to make my debut at the Parc des Princes. Thanks to the fans for this wonderful welcome,” wrote Ethan Mbappé.
Hard worker with a construction site and an unclear future
The midfielder actually pulls the strings for the club’s U19 team. His style of play is not similar to that of his brother, but rather that of players like Adrien Rabiot. Tall and lanky, strong left foot, good overview. “He works hard, has the right attitude and is fantastic on the ball,” his U19 coach Zoumana Camara once said about Mbappé, who, despite his brother, doesn’t get any special treatment. Instead, another reprimand: “Sometimes he plays too aggressively, he still has to learn to control that.”
Stark am Ball: Ethan Mbappé
But Camara will probably not be the coach who will work with Mbappé on this. The teenager still plays in almost all of the U19 games, but he mainly trains with the professionals. And his coach Luis Enrique is considered a great supporter of talent – and now also of Mbappé. “I have enjoyed the way he trains for a long time. He is a very interesting player with a lot of quality and personality,” said the former Spanish national coach.
His predecessor Christophe Galtier had Ethan Mbappé train with the professionals for the first time in November 2022, and at the end of the year he was used in a test match for the first time. In 2017 he moved to PSG from Bondy, where Kylian had also played before moving to AS Monaco. And those responsible there are now fighting for the future of the younger Mbappé. According to “L’Equipe”, Paris has started negotiations for his first professional contract, and he is currently only tied to the club until the end of the season.
Kylian Mbappé “clambered” Ethan den Torjubel
Kylian Mbappé’s contract also ends in the summer of 2024. There is therefore the theoretical possibility that the two will make a joint decision for the future. Do they both want to stay at Paris or try to move to the same club? Or do they deliberately go their separate ways so that Ethan can at least escape the comparison with Kylian a little?
Not only does Ethan owe something to his brother, but also the other way around. The famous goal celebration with crossed arms was not Kylian’s creation, but rather an idea from Ethan when he celebrated a victory against his older brother in the video game “FIFA” at the age of ten.
Famous jubilant pose – Kylian Mbappé
“He scored a goal and celebrated by crossing his arms. Five minutes later he stopped and said: ‘Kylian, you could do that in a game.’ So I did it,” explained Kylian Mbappé a few years ago. “He was happy and I told him: ‘Now I’ve stolen his goal celebration, it’s mine.'”
