'MBAPPE BORN TO BE THE BEST IN THE WORLD'

MBAPPE BORN TO BE THE BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD - GALLAS
12:30
The Monaco star has shown extraordinary maturity in his short career so far and is destined for the very top, according to ex-France international
Kylian Mbappe was “born to be the best player in the world” according to William Gallas, who urged his compatriot to stay put at Monaco for at least one more season.

Mbappe, 18, caught the world’s attention with his displays during Monaco’s Ligue 1-winning campaign in which he emerged as the breakout star.

Additionally, the teenager scored six knockout goals as the principality side made a run to the semi-finals of the Champions League forcing Europe’s top clubs to sit up and take notice.

Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Arsenal are among the clubs interested in Mbappe and Gallas is not surprised to see his compatriot in such high demand.

“The guy is born to be one of the best players in the world,” Gallas, speaking on behalf of Betsafe at the Star Sixes event at the O2 Arena in London, told Goal. “How he talks, how he manages his life is unbelievable. He’s only 18.

"But he looks like he’s a real, real professional player. He knows what he wants and that shocked me. To be mature at this age, I haven't seen many players like him.

Mbappe has been compared to Thierry Henry through his short career given the pair’s emergence at Monaco but Gallas sees similarities with a different star forward.

“Everybody compares him to Thierry Henry because Thierry Henry used to play for Monaco,” said Gallas.

“But how he plays is different to Thierry Henry. I would compare him more to Neymar. His feet, technically, how he runs, he likes to do a lot of skills. Look at that boy. You have to compare him to Neymar.

“They are similar. If everything is OK for him then he will be the best player in the world.”

Despite Mbappe’s achievements to date with Monaco, Gallas believes the time is not yet right for him to move on.

Mbappe has ambitions to star at World Cup 2018 in Russia and the former Arsenal man believes it’s in his long-term interests to commit to Monaco for another year at the very least.

“He’s still young," Gallas added, "I think he will stay one more year at Monaco. If he does this it will be a good choice. Next year there is the World Cup.

“Last season, even if he played a few games, he didn’t always start. Now it will be different for him. Now he will be on the starting XI.

“He has to manage everything because that will be new for him. If he carries on what he did last season I’m sure after next season he will go to one of the biggest clubs in the world.”

Gallas credits Mbappe’s strong mentality for his progress so far and believes that the sky is the limit for the €135 million-rated forward who has Zinedine Zidane and Pep Guardiola among his suitors and could earn a place among the all-time greats.

“What people know about him is that he’s a talented player,” said Gallas. “It’s not a secret any more. What people don’t know is his mentality.

“He’s got a lot of targets in his head and that is very important when you are a young player. You need to have a target to achieve what you want.

“I know he wants to have success. He wants to be like Thierry Henry was for France, like Ronaldo for Portugal, like Ronaldo for Brazil. He wants to have a big impact on football.”