Kylian Mbappé is overhyped and, according to Patrice Evra, does not belong in the same sentence as Thierry Henry.
The Manchester United legend has tried to bring Mbappe down after a disappointing start at Real Madrid.
Madrid signed Mbappe on a free transfer from PSG this summer to make him the star of the show, but he lags behind Vinicius Junior in scoring 17 goals compared to the Brazilian's 23.
In fairness to Mbappe, a run of fourteen goals scored is nothing to sniff at, but the demands of Los Blancos and the Spanish and French media are such that he is labeled a disappointment, especially when Madrid signed him for £ 85.6 million. -on fee and a contract of £12.8 million per season.
Comparisons between two great French players are obvious – both have also won a World Cup – but Evra wishes the conversation would end.
“When you start saying that [Mbappé] is the best player or one of the best, I think, he is not even close to Jean-Pierre Papin,” Evra told RMC Sport shw Rothen s'enflamme.
'Let's never compare Mbappe with Thierry Henry. Let us never compare him. You created this product.
'For me, [Mbappe] takes up too much heat, but when you talk about the best players in the world… Guys, have you seen Henry's performances? You put people on a pedestal who are not.'
However, Henry himself defended the 26-year-old on the same show.
The former Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal and Barcelona striker, who has scored 417 goals in his career compared to Mbappe's 350, insisted the Madrid man is still learning.
'If you look closely at the goals, you can't say his start in Madrid wasn't good. But now what he gave us from the first minute to the last minute and throughout the whole game, people are asking questions,” he said.
'But playing nine is not the same. For me, Kylian is a player who can play in all positions, but that has to be learned at some point. You have to know a bit about the court and learning to play number nine on the court at Real Madrid is not easy.
'It takes time to learn to play with your back to the goal. Especially if you don't have it as a basis. And I can say that because I didn't have it as a basis. But it can be learned. I hope he will evolve and he must have made progress.
'If it was someone else we would say he scores goals. Now we judge based on what he has done before.
'It is completely normal that, if you are not used to it, you find yourself in a certain situation where people can see your weaknesses, which we never saw before.
'We know very well that he is one of the best players in the world. And I repeat, but let's be happy that he is French. Now we need to know whether I am being asked the question of the player or of the human. And that's super important, because at some point you have to sort things out. Who knows what it's like to always be number one? Not many people.
'People can experience this from time to time, and that is completely normal. And that's completely normal for me. At one point everyone thought he was a robot. He's not a robot, he's a human who has emotions like everyone else. And every now and then he gets angry and throws his arms in the air.'
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