In an interview given to Élise Lucet and “Special Envoy” this Thursday, the star of PSG and the French team addressed several subjects.
Kylian Mbappé, with an open heart. The star of PSG and the French team spoke in an interview given to Élise Lucet and “Envoyé Spécial” and broadcast this Thursday evening. The interview was devoted to “Inspired by Kylian Mbappé (IBKM)», the charity association of the football star. Notoriety, business, positions… Mbappé brushed aside many subjects.
On his early notoriety: “I experience it much better than I experienced it before”
The native of Bondy was questioned about his usual modesty, his discretion and his reputation as “superstar». «I experience it much better than I did before. When you become a star that young, you can be ahead in your sport but not in life. I was ultra-famous at 18/19 years old. Initially, I had a different relationship with the fans. I was a little more closed off because I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t leave me alone. I wanted to do things that an 18/19 year old kid normally does“. But Mbappé affirms, it is he who chose this life. “I skipped my youth out of passion. I’m much more approachable with people now. Before, talking with people irritated me. Now I know what I stand for, I know what my life is. People like me! We need to take a step back from who we are, from what we represent, from the emotions that little has given us.”
The trigger for the 2018 World Cup
For his first World Cup, the PSG player undoubtedly experienced the most beautiful emotions of his career in 2018 in Russia, leading the French team to the second coronation in its history. A real turning point in his career. “This competition is an open door for the knowledge of the general public. Everyone looks at her. We were lucky to have a victorious outcome and come home with the trophy. It was a great collective and even individual success. I came out of this World Cup grown and I saw my life and my role completely changed“. Before adding on the emotions felt during the coronation: “ It may seem incomprehensible but it didn’t do much for me. I was so young, unconscious… I didn’t realize what I had gained. I came home quickly in the evening, without celebrating the event like crazy. I was much more aware during the 2022 World Cup. In 2018 it was a discovery for me».
Lucid, Mbappé returned to the defeat in the final against Argentina during the World Cup in Qatar, evoking “a step” moreover. “The failure of 2022 is not a scar. It’s one more step towards the path to glory. Children don’t know what it means to be part of a team and represent your country. Scoring a hat-trick is not important. I would have been much happier to score zero goals but still come away with the cup. It’s like that. We have to live with that and above all not forget it. We’re going to play another one and we’ll have to think about it to finally win a new one».
Read alsoLigue 1: why Kylian Mbappé would be right to leave PSG
On participating in the Olympics: “It means so much to me”
His participation in the Olympic Games is expected but not yet certain. One thing is certain, the French striker wants to participate even if the decision does not belong to him. “I have always had the “Olympic flame”. Along with the World Cup, the Olympic Games are the most important sporting event. Plus in Paris… It means so much to me. To tell myself that I’m going to participate in the Olympics with France, it’s an extraordinary opportunity. It’s even a dream rather than an opportunity. Be a standard bearer? We are still in something else (laughs). Already, I’m going to try to go to the Olympic Games. It doesn’t depend on me though. I’ve said it before, I’ve reached an age where I no longer want to force things. Everyone knows that I want to play in the Olympics but if my club doesn’t want to, I will understand that. I have the maturity to understand both sides. But if I go there, I will be very happy».
Money in football: “I deserve the money I earn. I didn’t steal it from anyone.”
«I deserve the money I earn. I didn’t steal it from anyone. The world works like that”, Mbappé first confided. Before discussing the criticisms surrounding money in this sport : “I understand. I am young, I have the advantage of having been in this position before and I said the same thing. (On his salary, 100 million euros?) I don’t even know what the exact number is to be honest. It’s a world that works differently. We just adapted to this world. People don’t know everything that is in football, how we generate it, how it works… When you give amounts like that, it will get people talking but I have learned to live with that and I ‘I have no problem’.
With Pelé, a special relationship
The two legends had a moment “special» and intimate. Mbappé notably visited the Brazilian legend Pelé, who died in December 2022. “We met through a sponsor. He had serious health problems and I went to see him in the hospital in France in Paris and I didn’t want it to be known because it was a private matter. Today, peace to his soul. We miss him a lot. But the legacy he left is eternal. I will be able to tell my children and grandchildren later that I was lucky to have been next to a man like him. Never in my life could I have thought of meeting him, interacting with him and creating this special relationship».
Pelé and Mbappé, in 2019. Federico Pestellini / Federico Pestellini / Panoramic
On his positions: “I am free to do and say what seems right to me”
Kylian Mbappé also returned to his positions, contested and criticized by some. The French striker says “not to regret» some of them, notably his position during the affair of young Nahel. “I do it because I am a citizen of the world and my role is the same as everyone else. It’s not because in my job I’m in a bubble that Man is in a bubble. Man worries, he is happy, he follows the news, he is informed… It is also important to show everyone that we are not on another planet, that we are with you , let us see what happens. We can agree, disagree, we revolt or not, we comment or not, we are active. I am free to do and say what seems right to me like any human. I have never regretted anything. (on the Nahel affair) I am always criticized. On the pitch, I am, and off it too. That’s how life is. It’s not serious. As a player, I have always taken criticism as a driving force. This is what makes you progress the most. There are things that remain in the realm of the spontaneous, cries from the heart. Like police violence or racism that I have already experienced».
