When a 14-year-old Kylian Mbappe was at Real Madrid’s training ground, Zinedine Zidane, the club’s then sporting director, clicked a photo of the prodigy and Cristiano Ronaldo. “Should I take off my shoes?” Mbappe had nervously asked the French icon. Mbappe, wearing a club jacket, flashed the ‘V’ sign, Ronaldo, an established star, had his arm around him. Eleven-years later, when Mbappe announced his move to Real Madrid this is the photo he uploaded on Instagram. Ronaldo commented: “My turn to see, excited to see you light up the Bernabeu.”
It is the most read comment in the app’s history. A passing of the baton from an idol to his fan.
Ronaldo had agreed to it four years ago, “Mbappe is the future and the present.”
Despite all his early laurels, Mbappe hasn’t shied away from conceding that he has always been a Ronaldo fanatic. So much so that his persona is derived from the Portuguese’s. “Since I was a kid, I imitated all his gestures.”
When Portugal and France meet in a Euro quarterfinals on Friday, the highlight will be Mbappe, 25, and Ronaldo, 39, on either side of the field in a clash of generations. Their ascent to the top of the sport took different twists and turns.
Football happened for Ronaldo, organically. At the age of nine, the boy from a family of modest means in the island of Madeira had pictured himself becoming a fisherman. Futebol de rua, the Portuguese iteration of street football that pays an emphasis on bringing communities together and fostering friendships was his gateway to the sport.
‘Born to football’
Mbappe, as he puts it in his comic book Je M’appelle Kylian, “was born into football.”
An advertising billboard for Nike with French footballer Kylian Mbappe covers the front of the Eglise de la Sainte Trinite church under renovation in Paris, France, July 2, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
The boy was seen as the next big thing before he stepped foot outside the ghettos of Bondy in the suburbs of the French capital. At 10, Nike provided him with free shoes. Two years later, a full contract. Fabled Sevilla FC scout Monchi once told The Guardian, “By the time Kylian was 12, all of Europe knew about him, and it was too late for a club like ours to make a move.” To Mbappe and those around him it was clear from the early days, the boy was meant to become the best in the world, and that is what they told Europe’s elite clubs were buying with their early investment.
There’s this negotiation flex that Mbappe’s mother pulled off for her 12-year-old son on the Chelsea execs that best display the upper hand they had. The London club were impressed by the speedy winger’s audition. The Club’s head of youth development however, wanted to see Kylian pass the ball more often before putting pen to paper. To this, came the cold response of Mbappe’s mother Fayza Lamari. “No, we won’t come again. If you want to sign him, you sign him now. In five years’ time, you will come back for him for £50 million.” It is telling of the influence his parents have had on his game and brand.
Ronaldo’s early struggles
No memory of a meaningful conversation with his alcoholic father, and his demise when Ronaldo was 19, frustrates him the most. He concedes as much in his 2015 documentary before his desolate face turns to one of pride as he adds, “I think I managed to handle things in his absence.”
For Ronaldo, the youngest of four siblings stepping up as the head of the family helped forge his alpha personality. Like his father, Ronaldo’s elder brother Hugo too was spiraling into alcoholism – selling Ronaldo’s Man United shirts to buy booze – when he intervened to make him go clean. Hugo now runs the Ronaldo museum in Funchal.
Soccer Football – Euro 2024 – Round of 16 – Portugal v Slovenia – Frankfurt Arena, Frankfurt, Germany – July 1, 2024 Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo scores a penalty during the penalty shootout REUTERS/Heiko Becker
Through his mother Dolores, who bore the brunt of her husband’s drinking habits, Ronaldo’s protective nature for the family can be further understood. Dolores has been banned from watching the high pressure games her son plays, especially alone. An answer to it may have been in Portugal’s Round of 16 game against Slovenia. The sight of his teary eyed mother in the stands is speculated to have set off the emotional meltdown of Ronaldo after his penalty miss. How much of it is true, only Ronaldo can tell. The fact that the Portuguese has kept his family distanced from his sport is evident.
From a young age, Ronaldo leaned heavily on professionals such as the seasoned agent Hugo Mendes to overlook his empire. Project Mbappe on the other hand has been a family affair, through and through.
Lamari, his mother, is projected as an iron fist behind all of Mbappe’s decisions, uncompromising and unyielding when it comes to her son’s best interest. A source at Real Madrid told The Athletic what he made of Lamari during the 2022 negotiations of the club with the player that eventually came to a halt after Mbappe signed an enormous new deal with PSG.
“She is implacable. She tells you, ‘No’ – and she doesn’t leave an inch. She wanted more.”
Lamari also believes her son takes his “I will do whatever I want” side from her.
Unlike his football idol, who has strayed away from voicing his views on politics all through his career, Mbappe doesn’t shy away from the same. Taking centre stage as the French captain ahead of the Euros, Mbappe’s voice against far-right extremism taking roots in the country was heard around the world. One of the highest-paid athletes in the world didn’t have to mix football with politics, as many of his predecessors stressed, but he did. Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes it’s what gives Mbappé a real power in society, which Michel Platini didn’t have back then.” One maybe even the man postered over his bedroom wall didn’t back then. Mbappe is the future and the present, after all.
