June 2024 will make it seven years since Paris Saint-Germain first signed Kylian Mbappe from AS Monaco. The player is still in his prime and has achieved Messi-esque levels of success with his hometown club.
He will leave at the end of the season when the ovation is loudest to follow a childhood dream. His reasons are clear: he wants to play in the big leagues.
As he wraps up his time at Parc De Princes, the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner is aware of one herculean task he has to complete: lifting the UEFA Champions League trophy with PSG.
Mbappe is believed to have signed a contract with Real Madrid and why many see it as a match made in heaven, ex-French and Arsenal star Emmanuel Petit has warned the Spanish giants to be careful.
Speaking to AS, the ex-Arsenal star said: “I have no idea what is going to happen and to be honest, we are 67 million French people who have no idea of what Mbappe will decide at the end of the season. Mbappe said two weeks ago that he will give his answer soon before the end of the season. So, I have no idea if heโs going to stay in Paris, there is so much speculation, so much talk, agreements, things like that.ย
โSo when you talk about Mbappe itโs always that you open the door and you never know whatโs going on. Maybe he will go to Madrid, maybe he will stay in Paris, maybe he will go somewhere else.โ
“If Mbappe goes to Madrid that could be a problem. Not just in terms of wages in the dressing room, but in terms of leadership as well. Bellingham has been amazing just like Vinicius Jr, and if he goes to Madrid, he will have to play as a striker, just like what he did recently for PSG. But we all know that this is not his best position. There are so many questions and no answers.”
Kylian Mbappeโs PSG legacy
Five years after the Nasser Al-Khelaifi-led Qatar Sports Investment group acquired PSG, they paid a record fee for a teenager to sign Mbappe from Monaco. That โฌ180 million investment has greatly paid off.
In seven years of Mbappeโs affiliation with the club, he has won 13 titles. The breakdown of the titles is as follows:
- ย ย ย 3 Coupe de France titles
- ย ย ย 2 Coupe de la Ligue titles
- ย ย ย 3 Trophรฉe des Champions cups
This places him in the top 10 of players with the most trophies at the club.
Mbappe, being an attacker, is also rated for his contribution to football in goals and assists. An attacker who does not have good numbers in those metrics has half of his legacy in the dumpster.
This is not the case with Mbappe, who, in seven years, scored 200+ goals to become PSGโs highest goalscorer of all time. He achieved this feat in less than 250 appearances for the club. At the rate he is scoring, this also means he could end up with almost 300 goals for the club.
In terms of assists, his numbers are more modest.
Angel Di Maria, who left the club in the 2022/23 season, holds the current record with 119. At the time of writing, Mbappe has 105 assists for the club, which is 14 assists behind the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner.
Assists are a lot more difficult to come by in football, so Di Maria might hold on to that record for longer. However, the possibility that Mbappe makes 15 assists to beat Di Maria before the end of the ongoing season is not far-fetched.
At the time of writing this article, he is nine appearances shy of 300 appearances, which would firmly place him behind Edinson Cavani in 11th place on PSGโs all-time appearances list. By the end of the ongoing season, Mbappe should end up firmly in the top ten of appearances for the club.
Regardless of the outcome, Mbappe will leave PSG as the all-time leading goal contributor with over 400 goal contributions in a little under 350 games. These are Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo numbers, which everyone agrees are abnormal.
He also has the opportunity to add three more titles to take his tally to 16 at the end of the ongoing season.
One of those three is the Champions League.
Why the UCL is important to Mbappeโs PSG legacy
PSG reached the semifinals for the first time in their history with Mbappe leading the charge. In their first appearance in the last two, they made it to the final where they earned runners-up medals.
In all the years he has played in the competition representing the Parisiens, he has finished as their top scorer in the competition.
Having beat Real Sociedad 2-0 in the round of 16 first leg of the current edition, PSG are strong favourites to advance to the quarterfinals. Fans can get the latest PSG tickets here.
In seven years, he is their all-time leading goalscorer with 35+ goals in 60+ appearances. He broke a few records to reach those numbers too.
Nothing can touch Kylian Mbappeโs legacy at PSG. However, the club and its fans will regret it if one of their greatest players ever is not on the honour roll if they ever lift Europe’s most prestigious title.
This and the following reasons are why Mbappe’s PSG legacy needs the UCL.
- ย ย ย He is a long way off Marco Verattiโs trophy record
- ย ย ย He is a long way off Jean-Marc Pilorgetโs appearance record
- ย ย ย He could end up second in assists behind Di Maria
- ย ย ย PSGโs biggest wish is the UCL and it is why they have spent the most money in the world on transfers
- ย ย ย The UCL is to club football what the World Cup is to international football. Having won the World Cup, winning the UCL will cement his legacy as an all-time great
- ย ย ย Winning with PSG puts him clear of his closest competitor in this era, Erling Haaland, who won Manchester Cityโs first-ever UCL in 2022/23
Mbappe is believed to be headed to Real Madrid. He is believed to be signing a five-year deal with the club. He should win at least one UCL in that time. However, it will not be as special as winning PSGโs first-ever UCL.
