French coach Didier Deschamps believes he knows what separates Kylian Mbappé from the most prestigious of individual trophies.
Kylian Mbappé is 24 years old and he still hasn’t won the Ballon d’Or. At this age, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had already conquered one or more. For the Frenchman, the best place he has obtained in the ranking of this prize is 3e (in 2023).
“A Euro won would bring Mbappé closer to the Ballon d’Or”
So what does he need to become the fifth Frenchman to win the BO after Kopa, Platini, Zidane and Benzema? Didier Deschamps, his coach in Blue, has an idea on the question. He confided in an interview with Le Parisien: “Winning the next Euro would allow him to be even closer to this objective.” But beyond his third place, it was especially certain votes that appealed to me. A jury that didn’t put Messi, Haaland and Mbappé among the top five, I’m not voting for it anymore! His vote is really not very serious.”
DD has a lot of respect for his captain. He does not regret for a second having given him the captain’s armband after the retirement of Hugo Lloris. “I am delighted with this choice. I knew everything would go well. Kylian fully assumes this role on and off the field. It does not weigh on him, it makes him responsible. He took his role to heart, he defends his players well, knows how to create a link between the youngest and the oldest,” he indicated.
Deschamps is pleased to have named Mbappé captain.
Dependent on its star? Deschamps doesn’t care
Finally, the French boss declared that a possible Mbappé-dependence did not bother him at all. “When a team is lucky enough to have an extraordinary player, which is our case, it seems normal to me to count on him, right? This is valid as for all other teams. Kylian is extraordinary. So much so that it has been argued that our offensive effectiveness rests on his shoulders alone. But if Kylian is very effective, that didn’t stop us from having different scorers.”
