The transition to Real Madrid has been a difficult one for Kylian Mbappé (25), but a club icon is here to help.
If anyone knows the pressures of featuring for Real Madrid and thriving, it’s Zinédine Zidane, who won a domestic and Champions League title as a player and three successive Champions League triumphs as club manager.
In 2001, Zizou came to Real Madrid from Juventus for a then-record transfer fee of €77.5m. Expectations for the man who’d helped France win their first World Cup in 1998 were high when he arrived at the Bernabéu, as they are now for Mbappé.
Sport has revealed that the man who notched the winning goal in the 2002 Champions League final for Real Madrid is being entrusted to help Mbappé get his game back on the right foot.
Zidane was one of the first people to spot Mbappé when he was a teenager and attempted to bring him to Real Madrid, while he was the senior manager.
Instead, the youngster chose AS Monaco, where he caught the eye of big clubs across Europe in the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League.
That led to a move to his hometown club Paris Saint-Germain, before last summer when he joined Real Madrid.
While he’s scored seven goals in his first 12 La Liga matches this season, it’s been a difficult Champions League campaign for the Frenchman, with just two goals, while missing a penalty the last time out versus Liverpool.
Mbappé and Zidane have experienced similar things as players, each making two World Cup finals and scoring in that decisive game each time.
Zidane can relate to Mbappé in a way few can, with the former being a part of the Galácticos era at Real Madrid.
Zizou was on a team littered with superstars where expectations were arguably as high as they’ve ever been for Los Blancos.
His track record for success as a player and manager may be what Mbappé needs to regain confidence and thrive for club and country.
GFFN | Joel Lefevre