Mbappé: “I think this could be a good year to win the Ballon d’Or”

Real Madrid’s French forward, Kylian Mbappé, is clear that in the World Cup, “the most important competition”, he made “a lot of history” and that is why he has “the feeling” that he may have many chances of winning the Ballon d’Or; while, on the other hand, he stated that all the team’s players have to “improve to help the defense” and that they remain “calm” despite the defeat against Real Betis because they are immersed in “a very positive process.”

“When you play for Real Madrid, the best club in the world, people associate you with awards. Many people on the street talk to me about the Ballon d’Or, which is an award that for every player is a very positive issue. I have made a lot of history this summer in the most important competition in this sport and I have the feeling that it is a good year for that (winning it), but there is a lot of time left and people have the freedom to vote for who they think is the best player in the world,” said Mbappé at a press conference.

The one from Bondy confessed that he “always” sees himself as the best in the world, but that this “is something very personal” and that “everyone has their opinion.” “Of course I think it could be a good year for me to win the Ballon d’Or, but it is the journalists who are going to vote for who they think is the best player in the world,” he insisted.

On the other hand, regarding whether the compatibility with Vinícius Jr is good, he stressed that it is “an opinion of the millions that exist about Real Madrid because it is the most famous and largest club in the world.” “I can’t control everything that is said about us, but we have the same objective of making Real Madrid win games and titles. We can listen when people make opinions like this and we always try to improve and move forward,” he concluded.

In this sense, he avoided comparisons with other players like Raphinha or Ousmane Démbéle who work a lot on pressure in their clubs and whether it is something he and the Brazilian should do. “Just me and Vinicius?” he asked. “Of course we have to improve, but I can also say that I score more goals than the two you mentioned and that they have to score more goals to be like me. Each one is different and I want to do things intelligently. I don’t like to compare because I think I do many things that others don’t do,” he clarified.

“All Real Madrid players have to improve in this aspect to help the defense and we can concede fewer chances and fewer goals, but I also think that with the ball we have to handle things better to create more scoring chances. This is the life of a high-level team that wants to be the best in the world,” he explained.

Mbappé made it clear that he does not want to debate “taking three players out of the team” in relation also to coexistence on the field with Jude Bellingham. “I know that people like that, journalists too, and it’s completely normal, I always have the mentality of thinking about how we can improve and how we can arrive ready for the moment that will count in the season,” he warned.

The ’10’ recalled that he plays “in two different positions in the national team and in Real Madrid.” “They are two different contexts and in each one I have to take the step forward. In the national team I am the captain, not here, but as a player I want to improve not only for France or Real Madrid, it is for me as a player and as the perception I want to have of the game,” he commented.

“I have had many coaches who had a completely different vision of seeing the game and that has helped me a lot in the way I read the game, to see how we can adapt to each situation, of which there are many in a game,” he continued in this regard.

In his third year, the international prefers not in the long term because “every day is an experience at Real Madrid.” “I’m only thinking about how I can be ready for the match against Inter and how I can help my team get off to a good start in the Champions League because it is a very important competition for us,” he said.

“WE ARE IN A POSITIVE PROCESS, WE ARE VERY CALM”

Nor does he believe that the atmosphere in the locker room needs to be improved. “It’s the same as last year, there’s just a different coach,” he warned. “We have lost against Betis, but we have played well and the only thing we have failed in is scoring goals, which is the most important thing in football and is my responsibility. I think we are in a positive process and that we have to improve, but we are very calm,” he reflected.

For this reason, the forward sees the arrival of José Mourinho on the bench as positive, “a guy who knows how to win, how to have a group and who knows how to give motivation to an entire club and its entire group to lead and win games.”

And he agrees with the Portuguese that it is also worth scoring “30 goals, but with titles.” “Of course if I have to choose between the two, I choose 40 goals with titles, but I am not going to stop after scoring a number of goals. I always want to score goals and win titles, for me it is not a debate and you don’t have to choose, you can do both,” he expressed.

He also blamed “a football analysis” that cannot change the fact that his departure from PSG is related to the fact that the Parisian team has won the last two Champions Leagues. “There are different analyses, but in the end sometimes they are also not analyses, they are things that sell, that make people talk about you. I think that talking about me sells a lot, whether positive or negative,” he said.

Finally, he highlighted the happiness of playing again this Tuesday in the Champions League, a competition that awakens “a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of determination.” “We started at the Bernabéu and it is one more motivation for us as players. We are going to play a very demanding match, the Champions League is worse and we have enormous pleasure in playing in this competition,” he noted.