As the two dominant talents of 21st century football, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, near the end of their careers, one man is set to take their place at the very top of the game. This man is the captain of France’s national team, Kylian Mbappe. A world champion at the age of nineteen in Russia, the World Cup’s Golden Boot four years later in Qatar, the first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966, the winner of twelve major honours with Paris Saint-Germain. Mbappe is still only 26 and he wears the shirt of Real Madrid.

At its core this book tells the ascent of a child of immigrants who rose to become the world’s best player. But Mbappe’s story is far more – his ascent was planned from the beginning, in a way no other sports career had been orchestrated before.

Kylian Mbappe’s trajectory was mapped out from a very early age by his family, with the player’s full consent. For Ronaldo and Messi, the brand was developed as a consequence of their exceptional achievements on the field of play. For Mbappe, the plan was in place before he’d played a minute of football with his first professional club, AS Monaco.

He was only six years old when Nike knocked on his parents’ door and gave him his first sponsorship contract. He was sent to private school and given one-to-one tuition in Spanish so that he could interact with the local media as and when he signed for Real Madrid. His name was trademarked worldwide before he’d won his first cap for France. Every move, every decision was calculated from the outset.

Yes, Mbappe is a generational talent, and an exceptionally smart individual who looks as much at ease at the Elysee palace as on the pitch. But what truly sets him apart is that he is not just a sportsman: he is a project. This book tells the story of that project for the first time.

Author Biography

Philippe Auclair is a London-based French football writer, broadcaster and investigative journalist.

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