Five years of listening to him, reading him, scrutinizing him, but never an ounce of weariness spoils his speeches.
Kylian Mbappé spoke in recent days with the magazine France Football to discuss his relationship with the famous trophy awarded each season by the French weekly.
This year, the winners will be unveiled on October 17.
But since Friday evening, we know the names of the 30 named, among whom is obviously the star of PSG and the French team, who will start his season on Saturday evening at the Parc against Montpellier.
Seventh in 2017, fourth in 2018, sixth in 2019 and ninth last year, Mbappé is legitimately aiming for a new top 10. And why not a first podium?
If he had the chance to vote, he would in any case place himself as the runner-up to his compatriot Karim Benzema… and ahead of another AFCON winner and Champions League finalist.
“I would say Benzema, me and Mané.
In place of Karim, if I don't win there, I stop thinking about the Ballon d'Or forever, ”laughs the Frenchman.
"It's the ticket to the big world"
At 22, his memories of Ballon d'Or can be summed up in the bewildering duel which for fifteen years opposed Lionel Messi (7 times winner) and Cristiano Ronaldo (6 times winner).
He refuses to decide between the two icons.
"It's like choosing between your father and your mother: it can't be done and it can't be asked," he said, before giving his idea of what a Ballon d'Or should be and represent.
“For me, it's a real barometer.
You just have to see the list of winners, there are no intruders or crooks.
They all left, each in their own way, a trace in the history of football.
They can sometimes be debatable on the year of obtaining, but never on their intrinsic qualities, he assures.
It's the ticket to the big world (…) You have burned the retina so much that many only see you.
You only have to look at the trophy to understand: you have to be brilliant to live up to the tradition and reputation of the Ballon d'Or.
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His choice to continue the adventure at PSG may seem risky in terms of this objective.
Can PSG offer him this dream?
He says he is "convinced".
"Real is a Ballon d'Or machine, we have to admit that.
There is a real know-how.
But the most important thing is the ground.
It's not your club that will get your Ballon d'Or, but it's you first.
And I remain convinced that I will be able to win it one day in Paris.
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For him, a premature elimination from the Champions League does not have the right to be taken into account when voting.
A Ballon d'Or "must be decisive, even when his team is less well.
Especially when she's less well.
There are few enough to be able to rock a match almost alone.
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“I will do everything to get noticed at this time”
If Mbappé has no illusions for the final victory, he fully assumes that he wants to perform in the weeks preceding the election.
“Me, I admit it: I think about it.
And I will do everything to get noticed at this time.
It's human, right?
It allows you to add specific individual motivation in seasons that are very long.
You have to know how to invent challenges and the race for the Ballon d'Or is one of them, of course.
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Mbappé seems to hunt hypocrisy as much as this famous award.
That's why we tend to believe him when he moderates a little bit.
He concedes a taste of unfinished business if he does not win it "but if I am a triple world champion and European club champion, I don't think anyone will come to see me and tell me that my career will have been a failure because I would not have had the Ballon d'Or.
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