Back to the future.
As a symbol, Kylian Mbappé will have the opportunity to set foot on the lawn where he was born.
A few months before the start of his new life, far from Paris, Ligue 1 and France, he will guide PSG against AS Monaco this Friday (9 p.m.), during the first match of the 24th day of the championship France.
At least if Luis Enrique gives him the opportunity to play, since the Spanish coach now allows himself to take liberties at this level...
To discover
Calendar and results Ligue 1
Ligue 1 ranking
Still, we imagine this return rich in emotions for the captain of the Blues, he who will make a new start next summer, seven years after leaving the princely team, his training club, the one which had attracted him in the summer of 2013, ahead of Real Madrid and PSG, among others.
Mbappé was 14 years old.
First missed appointment with Casa Blanca, not the last.
The Mbappé clan had favored the quality of asemist training and the tranquility of the Principality over the temptations of Paris or Madrid.
History has shown that the choice was wise.
Return, in 10 dates, to the Monegasque years of the Kylian Mbappé phenomenon, from 2013 to 2017.
December 2, 2015: Mbappé, premiere!
At the time, we did not necessarily measure what happened on December 2, 2015. Leonardo Jardim made his third and final change on the pitch at the Stade Louis II, against Caen, during the 16th day of Ligue 1 Portuguese international defender Fábio Coentrão gave way to Kylian Mbappé, a kid aged 16 years and 11 months, in the 88th minute.
Record broken for number 33, the youngest player to wear the Asemist colors ahead of a certain Thierry Henry.
ASM had to settle for a draw (1-1) that day, but history was in the making.
Here against Bordeaux in the Coupe de la Ligue, on December 16, 2015, Kylian Mbappé holds several records for precocity at AS Monaco.
Philippe LECOEUR / Fep / Panoramic
February 28, 2016: Already a scorer
Three months after his first appearance with the pros, the young Mbappé scored his first goal on February 28, 2016 in a 3-1 victory against Troyes, in Ligue 1, at 17 years and 62 days old.
Better than Thierry Henry (17 years, 8 months and 12 days).
His first assist was on April 10, 2016, on a goal from Farès Bahlouli in stoppage time. Not enough to avoid a 4-1 defeat for ASM that day… In the end, “KM” had scored one goal and provided two assists in 14 appearances and 496 minutes in 2015-16.
Read alsoLuis Enrique confident for the post-Mbappé era at PSG: “We will have a better team next season”
March 6, 2016: first professional contract
Already courted, Mbappé put his signature at the bottom of a first professional contract on March 6, 2016. The lease extended until 2019 and the person concerned expressed his “
pride
.”
It’s the club that made me grow, I feel good there and I will be able to continue to reach new levels
,” he declared at the time.
October 13, 2016: the pressure from Papa Mbappé
Slowed down by an injury but above all little used by Leo Jardim, Kylian Mbappé began to find the time long from… mid-October.
October 13 to be precise.
Wilfried Mbappé, the dad, carried out a striking interview in the columns of
L'Équipe
.
“
There, the team is rotating and it’s complicated to announce: I want that.
But without being pretentious, we do not understand Kylian's illegible management, given the management's promises which were quite simply to play, to enter into a rotation.
Otherwise he would not have stayed
,” he said for the sports daily, assuring that he was not “
stupid
”: “
Even if he achieved a great Euro (Espoirs), we did not expect him to become holder, but we did not imagine that he would be a sixth striker.
If that was why, you might as well go to a big club straight away
.”
Referring to “
a real reflection to be carried out during the winter transfer window
”, Wilfried Mbappé also estimated that “
this situation creates frustrations and does not make Kylian happy
”.
Coach Jardim was not impressed, leaving the young star on the bench for the following match, in Toulouse.
However, the Mbappé no longer had to complain afterwards.
Kylian entered the game in Moscow, in C1, before making two consecutive starts in Ligue 1, including an active participation in the card against Montpellier (6-2), with a goal and two assists.
The machine was launched.
We weren't going to stop him anymore.
Read also PSG: “There was no discussion” on the future of Mbappé, swears President Macron
December 14, 2016: Mbappé sees triple
Starting in the round of 16 of the Coupe de la Ligue on December 14, 2016, against Rennes (7-0), Kylian Mbappé caught fire.
The Paris native scored the first hat-trick of his career, the first two goals of the match, in the first half, and another on the hour mark, for the 4-0.
The first in a long series, in Paris and with the French team.
As for Monaco, Mbappé “planted” another, in February 2017, during a victory in L1 against Metz (5-0).
With ASM, the prodigy also stood out with three doubles.
In the end, he scored 26 goals and 14 assists in 44 matches during this 2016-17 campaign crowned by a French champion title (see elsewhere).
Kylian Mbappé scored his first European goal in February 2017 against City.
Anthony BIBARD / Fep / Panoramic
February 21, 2017: Mbappé awakens to Europe
It didn't take long for European football to discover Kylian Mbappé.
After three appearances in the group stage, entering the game each time, "KM" is part of the starting 11 in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League, at the Etihad Stadium, against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City .
Surprise.
Starting for the rest of the campaign in C1, he was unable to prevent the defeat that evening in Manchester, but helped to keep AS Monaco alive with his first European goal.
5-3 defeat of the Monegasques, who won 3-1 on the return leg, with… a goal from Mbappé.
Not the last, number 29 never being so comfortable away on the European scene.
He scored a double in Dortmund (2-3) in the quarter before shaking the Turin net, against Juve (2-1 defeat), in the half.
The Bianconeri had also put an end to the exceptional run of the Principality club.
Six goals in C1 in this first campaign in C1 for Mbappé, who did not tremble when reaching the European milestone.
Gifted.
March 25, 2017: the big Blue
Didier Deschamps couldn't wait any longer.
At 18 years, three months and five days, “KM” made his debut for the France A team, during a 3-1 victory in Luxembourg.
Today, he is captain of the national team, with 75 caps and 46 goals to his name.
His first “pawn”?
At the end of August 2017, he had already been transferred to Paris-SG.
Kylian Mbappé made his debut in Blue in Luxembourg in March 2017. Anthony BIBARD / Fep / Panoramic
May 17, 2017: the first coronation
Mbappé entered the first line on his professional list on May 17, 2017, with the title of champion of France, under the nose of the Parisian ogre.
The Monegasques were crowned after a 2-0 victory over ASSE, on the penultimate day.
It was “KM” who scored the first goal at the start of the match, before seeing Valère Germain double the lead and definitively kill the suspense in stoppage time. Note that Mbappé had only played one minute during a see-saw shock on January 29 at the Parc des Princes.
ASM held off PSG (1-1) thanks to a goal from Bernardo Silva in stoppage time. Kylian Mbappé's first visit to what would become his garden for the next seven years... Speaking of titles, we will note that the boy had previously won the Gambardella Cup with the U19s, in May 2016, a few weeks before winning the Under-19 Euro with the Bleuets.
Read alsoPSG: Mbappé no longer has the totem of immunity
August 27, 2017: the last… on the bench
Will leave, will not leave?
At the heart of an eventful summer (see elsewhere), Kylian Mbappé participated in the first two matches of the 2017-18 AS Monaco season, the defeat against... PSG in the Champions Trophy (1-2), on the 29th. July, and the victory against Toulouse (3-2) in L1, on August 4.
This was the last match he played in Rouge et Blanc.
We didn't know it yet... He remained on the bench against Dijon and was not called up against Metz.
On August 27, 2017, he took his place on Louis II's bench to witness the defeat against OM (6-2), with a double from Radamel Falcao.
Bench that he did not leave from the meeting, his last in the colors of the princely formation.
Nasser Al-Khelaïfi welcomed Kylian Mbappé at the end of the summer 2017 transfer window. Michael Baucher / Michael Baucher / Panoramic
August 31, 2017: Mbappé goes to the capital
Manchester City, Real Madrid, Liverpool… The biggest clubs in Europe were in line to poach the phenomenon in the off-season.
Except that Monaco was not particularly a seller… “
AS Monaco notes with regret that “important” clubs in European football are increasing contacts with Kylian Mbappé (and his entourage) without having the authorization of the club
”, affirmed the Monegasque leadership in July, denouncing an “
unacceptable situation
” and threatening to refer the matter to French and international authorities.
Finally, at the end of a long series, PSG achieved the unthinkable: after snatching Neymar Jr from Barça for €222 million, Paris acquired the French nugget for €180 million, bonus included.
And this within the framework of a loan with purchase option, so as not to attract too much wrath from continental authorities.
Kylian Mbappé could dream bigger.