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#3 Kylian Mbappé (PSG and France)
The searing pace, amazing dribbles and unerring finishing. No, it’s not Thierry Henry but rather the 18-year-old tyro; Kylian Lottin Mbappé that has taken French and European football by storm.
The youngster’s ascent to the pinnacle of football has been nothing short of rapid and it seems to be a journey that is set to culminate in being crowned the world’s premier footballer.
Amazingly, this is just his second full season as a professional footballer and there is a sense around the young man that his ceiling will approach that of Messi and Ronaldo; childhood prodigies who have blossomed to star men.
Following from his first full season at AS Monaco where his performances and goals propelled Les Rouges et Blancs (The Red and Whites) to a historic Ligue 1 title as well as a semi-final appearance in the UEFA Champions League, the kid from Paris was courted by a lot of major European sides until French giants PSG won the bid for his services with an initial loan deal followed by a reported €180m transfer fee to be paid next season.
Mbappé has demonstrated the skills and touch of a markedly older player and has already shown that these skills can be transferred to the national setup with the forward already being capped 6 times by France.
It remains to be seen how effective he will be operating under the shadow of more illustrious colleagues at both club (Neymar, Edinson Cavani) and national level (Griezmann, Pogba et al) but one thing is sure, this kid has everything it takes to surpass even the French legend to whom he is repeatedly compared.
