Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe is sensational. There are no two ways about it. He has been great as of late, scoring two goals against Villarreal to give the club their first win against the Yellow Submarine since 2017. He has been their best forward since the turn of the year, and has been the reason for so many wins.
It used to be worse. Mbappe did not get off at the best of starts at Real Madrid, struggling with form and confidence. It was the most underconfident anyone had ever seen Mbappe, but it was only after it that we saw the best version of the French forward.
In an interview with Le Parisien, Mbappe talked about the reasons why he did not have the best of starts at the club.
Mbappe struggled due to not playing well in Euros, injuries, lack of continuity and so much more
In the interview, Mbappe said: “A European Championship that you don't win, in which you don't play well, an end of season at PSG in which you play much less... It's an accumulation of things, injuries, poor performances, things that I haven't experienced much in my career and that forces you to have to work again to become the player you can be.”
It is clear that Mbappe had to start at rock bottom, and he had to work his way up. But he did reiterate that this was not the first time in his career that he had to struggle.
He said: “This isn't the first time I've been through something like this. It's just that my status is different, and so are the expectations and repercussions. I've been through other tough times, but they were talked about less because I didn't have the same status.
"Yes, I've understood. I keep saying that what's changed is everything around me, the way people look at me, more than me, who had a hard time at first.”
When asked about whether there was a turning point, Mbappe said there was not. It happened gradually, and he slowly but surely started finding the better version of himself.
He said: “I started to improve in matches, scoring goals again, becoming much more instinctive in my game, more incisive, more persuasive, more connected.
"Everything happened in a linear fashion; there wasn't a single match that marked a turning point. I started feeling good in late November or early December, and things have been going well for the last three or four months.”
Mbappe is near enough to the peak of his powers now, and he will take on Luka Modric and Croatia in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Nations League this week.