4 reasons why Mbappe and not Neymar is the perfect galactico replacement for Ronaldo

#2 His World Cup performance

Champion!

Mbappe burst onto international prominence with his performances for Monaco in their fairy tale Ligue 1 triumph and Champions League semi-final run in 2017, where he ended up in both the UCL and Ligue 1 teams of the season.

The prodigiously talented French teenager continued his upward spiral in his debut season for PSG where he scored a total of 21 goals across all competitions as the Paris club completed a domestic treble of Ligue 1, Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France.

Despite these impressive performances, there were still some who doubted Mbappe's ability to consistently perform on the biggest stages owing to his age and the fact that he has less than three full seasons of top level professional football under his belt. In typical fashion, Mbappe cleared their doubts with his performance at the World Cup.

The World Cup is the biggest stage in world football, and a remarkable performance there guarantees a player legendary status in the annals of football history, following in the footsteps of mythical players such as Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Mario Kempes, Paolo Rossi, Maradona, Romario, Zidane and Ronaldo who stamped their names in gold at the World Cup.

Mbappe came into the World Cup with a burgeoning reputation and he enhanced it massively by virtue of his achievements at the 2018 World Cup. He was deservedly voted the World Cup's Young Player of the tournament as his contribution of four goals was instrumental to France becoming champions.

While Neymar shouldered the responsibility of leading Brazil to exorcise the ghosts of Belo Horizonte from four years ago and to her long awaited sixth world title, Mbappe was one in a brilliantly talented French side who sought to make amends for their Euro final loss two years ago on home soil.

However, Neymar floundered in his quest for glory, spending more time on the floor with theatrics than making genuine contributions, Mbappe though led his country from the front-line, his technique and pace proving to be a valuable weapon in Didier Deschamps's arsenal.

He became France's youngest ever World Cup goalscorer with his goal in the 1-0 victory over Peru, also following in Pele's footsteps by being the first teenager to score a brace in a World Cup match (against Argentina) and to score in the final.

Real Madrid is unarguably the biggest club in world football, and playing for the Bernabeu outfit can be extremely challenging, with the demands from the fans to win every match convincingly putting the players under extreme pressure, but as Mbappe showed in Russia, he has the mental fortitude and strength of character required to be a galactico.