A few years ago, Kylian Mbappe was still a boy growing up in the poor suburb of Bondy, returning from soccer practice to his bedroom full of pictures of his idol Cristiano Ronaldo.

At the current 19 years old, Mbappe’s career flourished when playing prominently in the national team’s shirt, bringing France to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup. In early July, the young talent officially joined the Paris Club. – Saint Germain (PSG). The transfer fee amounted to 217 million USD, the second highest in history after teammate Neymar’s contract value. The striker arrived at the “rich” team last year, on loan from AS Monaco with the option to allow PSG to buy him outright at the end of the season.

Mbappe is proving himself worthy of this huge number at the biggest football festival on the planet. In the convincing round of 16 victory over Argentina on June 30, the number 10 of France was the one to bring home a penalty, from an impressive speed that forced the South American defender to fall in the penalty area. M10 then contributed two goals, becoming the first under-20 player to score from two goals at a World Cup final since Pele in 1958.

The French striker also left a big mark at club level with 13 goals and 7 assists in just 28 Ligue 1 appearances, helping PSG to the national championship last season.

New French talent from the cradle of crime

In 1998, Zidane and his teammates won the World Cup in France. Just 12 km from where they were crowned, a new football talent was also born that year.

Mbappe’s Bondy hometown is among the “banlieue” (the fringes of major French cities), often labeled as the location where the poor working class, community of color, violence, and social conflicts are concentrated. society and the cradle of crime and terrorism.

Rising from a banlieue and succeeding is not easy. But this year’s France squad has eight players from the banlieue, including Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi. Residents of these areas praise the boys’ stories and dream of following in their footsteps. In Bondy, people even painted a giant portrait of Mbappe on the wall of an old building.

“He was the best kid I’ve trained, maybe the best kid in my entire coaching career,” said Antonio Riccardi, one of the player’s first coaches at the country team. fragrance AS Bondy.

Mbappe soon stood out from the age of 6. Riccardi shared that his elite student is a good listener, an important quality for any athlete to have if they want to reach stardom. This coach said: “He understands very quickly. You only Mbappe once, the second time he did it.”

Rejected Chelsea and Real Madrid from adolescence

Players from top clubs soon find young talent. At the age of 11, Mbappe accepted an invitation to train for a week at Chelsea. Three years later, it was Real Madrid’s turn to give the 14-year-old a trip to the Bernabeu stadium to meet his idols Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane. However, participating only as a form of experience, Mbappe and his family rejected recruitment offers from two big teams.

The star made his professional debut at AS Monaco at the age of 17 and quickly carved his name into the gold table as the youngest player ever to score for this club, a record previously held by Thierry Henry. The following year, Mbappe was the most sought-after 18-year-old player in the world, when he reached the semi-finals of the Champions League with Monaco.

All the top clubs in Europe can think of trying to reach the young star of the 2016-2017 season, from Real Madrid, Manchester City to Arsenal. Realizing that Mbappe has many qualities like his student Thierry Henry, coach Arsenge Wenger then offered to buy his favorite striker for $163 million, triple the club record. Most recently, even Manchester United also sought to attract Mbappe, before he signed a long-term contract with the hometown team.

Why are young people humble?

The French striker believes that hard work and dedication are the two main factors that brought him to today’s success. He believes: “In football, everything is possible thanks to hard work and practice and that is an important factor. I always believe in myself, that it is possible to do great things. But not only desire, want. so it’s a matter of diligence.”

Mbappe’s estimated fortune at the age of 19 is $ 82 million. Fame came quite early, but the player is remembered for maintaining a humble and chivalrous lifestyle.

Until last year, Mbappe still lived in the club dormitory, with the simple convenience of a cable TV for him to watch all his favorite football channels. It’s not uncommon for young superstars to soon become famous with expensive, noisy online collections or endless carnivals, but that’s not the M10 thing.

He donates $22,300 from each World Cup match to Premiers de Cordees, an association that organizes sporting events for children with disabilities. Despite being paid a monthly salary of 1.7 million USD by PSG, the young player does not want to waste it.

“I may be progressing faster than my age, but in real life I’m still just a kid,” the 19-year-old World Cup striker said.

Mbappe said: “Playing football does not mean going to Ferrari. I don’t have a supercar and that doesn’t matter.”