World Cup 2018: 5 Players Whose Value Has Skyrocketed

Kylian Mbappe

France v Belgium - Semi Final FIFA World Cup 2018

Seriously, how do you increase your price tag when you’re already touted at £166 million? Well, if you’re Kylian Mbappe, you absolutely blow opponent after opponent away on the grandest stage in world football – to the point where you’re actually embarrassing opposing players, such is your ridiculous skill set and creative dynamism.

Mbappe, of course, spent last season on loan at Paris St-Germain, with a deal in place for the Ligue 1 champions to sign the player from Monaco this summer for a staggering £166 million. However, the Paris club are currently being investigated for potentially breaching Financial Fair Play rules. As such, PSG may not be signing Mbappe after all!

If that permanent move to Paris St-Germain doesn’t happen, it’s no exaggeration to say that Kylian Mbappe would have his pick of clubs. Already, the 19-year-old Frenchman has been touted for a move to the biggest clubs in the world, with the latest speculation having him pegged as Real Madrid’s top pick to replace Cristiano Ronaldo.

It’s kind of befuddling to say that the World Cup has boosted Mbappe’s £166 million valuation, but that is indeed the case. If that already-agreed-in-principal move to PSG has the breaks put on it, you’d now be looking at a figure of £200 million or more for the lightning-quick forward – and that’s down purely to his performances in Russia this summer, in which he led France to World Cup triumph, nabbing himself the FIFA Young Player Award and scoring four goals in only six starts.

About the author

A longtime football and wrestling fan who's managed to somehow make a career out of writing and talking about such things, Andrew likes to think of himself as an entertaining, informative, and occasionally humourous writer and radio personality - although you may completely disagree with that.

When not writing or talking about the beautiful game and the squared circle, this Welshman can usually be found watching the not-so-mighty Wrexham AFC, scanning sports channels for any sort of football whatsoever, or re-watching classic Bret Hart matches of yesteryear. Elsewhere, Andrew is known as the Online Editor/Lead Writer of Starburst Magazine, a contributor for outlets such as TheRichest, WhatCulture, and TheQuiz.com, a radio presenter for CalonFM, and a panel host for Wales Comic Con.

Feel free to get in touch with any queries, comments, or criticism on the usual social media channels. Just try to be nice :)

Know More

Edited by Arvind Sriram