"He'll surpass everyone" - Zinedine Zidane makes bold prediction about Real Madrid star
Former Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane made a bold prediction about French superstar Kylian Mbappe's future career at the Santiago Bernabeu. In an interview with Telefoot, the 51-year-old claimed that the former Paris Saint-Germain superstar would outshine everyone and leave a lasting legacy at the club.
Los Blancos announced the signing of Mbappe on a free transfer on June 3. The Frenchman joins the club upon the expiration of his PSG contract. The announcement concluded an almost seven-year-long transfer saga between the two parties, and the forward called it a dream come true.
When asked to predict Mbappe's career with Real Madrid, Zidane said:
"Mbappe is here now. He will make history at the club and I think he’ll surpass everyone."
Mbappe has broken several records in his senior career so far, bagging goals for fun at club and international level. In his seven years at PSG, he racked up 256 goals and 108 assists in 308 games across all competitions. He is the Parisians' all-time top scorer.
He is the French national team's third-highest goalscorer of all time with 47 strikes in 78 games. He led them to the FIFA World Cup title in 2018 and scored a hat-trick in the final of the 2022 edition, but fell short to Argentina and Lionel Messi on penalties. He is also the captain of the national side, having taken over from Hugo Lloris after his retirement at the conclusion of the 2022 World Cup.
Mbappe will be joining a galaxy of stars at Real Madrid which includes Vinicius Jr., Rodrygo, Jude Bellingham, Toni Kroos, Federico Valverde, and Aurelien Tchouameni among others. With such a stellar cast to support his goalscoring prowess, he will certainly be expected to break many more records during his tenure at the club.
"That is football" - Zinedine Zidane talks about the players that impressed him most at Real Madrid
In an interview with Canal+ Africa, former Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane spoke about the players that impressed him the most during his time at the club.
Zidane managed Los Blancos across two stints - from 2016 to 2018, and then from 2019 to 2021. He won three straight Champions League titles in his first stint, two La Liga titles (2016-17 and 2019-20) and two FIFA Club World Cups (2016-17 and 2017-18).
Talking about the best players at the Bernabeu during his coaching tenure, he said:
"Players who impressed me the most as a coach? When you see [Toni] Kroos, [Luka] Modric and [Karim] Benzema playing for you for an hour without losing a single ball, that is football."
All three players made over 450 appearances for the club, with Modric (2018) and Benzema (2022) winning Ballon d'Or awards during their Real Madrid tenure. While Modric is still at the club, Benzema departed for Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad at the start of the 2023-24 campaign. Meanwhile, Kroos announced his retirement this summer.