Kylian Mbappe names Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid legend as the two players he would've loved to play with
Kylian Mbappe has named Real Madrid legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane as the two players he would have loved to play with. The Monaco Academy graduate joined Los Blancos as a free agent this year after spending seven seasons at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
Cristiano Ronaldo is widely considered as one of Real Madrid's biggest legends. The Portuguese superstar joined the club from Manchester United in 2009 for a reported transfer fee of €94 million. With 450 goals in 438 games across competitions, Ronaldo is the highest goalscorer in the club's history.
The Al-Nassr superstar has also won four Ballons d'Or, three Golden Boots, three UEFA Best Player in Europe awards, two Best FIFA Men's Player awards, four UEFA Champions League titles, and two La Ligas during his time with Los Merengues.
In an appearance on the program Be United, Kylian Mbappe spoke to several differently abled kids and answered their questions. When asked about the player he would have liked to play with the most, Kylian Mbappe mentioned compatriot Zinedine Zidane before lavishing praise on Cristiano Ronaldo.
“I played with great players: Messi, Neymar, Griezmann, Pogba, Benzema... It would have been fun to play with Cristiano Ronaldo, now it will be very complicated, but I was lucky to play against him, a legend of the sport," he said (via ojogo.pt).
Zinedine Zidane has established himself as an undisputed legend of the game both as a player and a manager. The Frenchman was a part of Real Madrid's iconic Galacticos era and won a UEFA Champions League, a La Liga title, one UEFA Supercup, two Spanish Super Cups, one FIFA Best Men's Player, one UEFA Best Player in Europe at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Additionally, he managed Real Madrid when they famously won three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles between 2016 and 2018.
When Rafael van der Vaart compared Real Madrid stars Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo
Rafael van der Vaart has recently attributed Kylian Mbappe's underwhelming performances at Real Madrid to him being treated as just 'another player.' The former Los Blancos star believes that the Frenchman wanted to be treated as a star like Cristiano Ronaldo.
In an interview with BetMGM, Van der Vaart opined that Kylian Mbappe was struggling at Real Madrid because he wasn't playing in his preferred left-wing position.
"I don't think he feels welcome at Real Madrid yet. When you go from being the biggest player at a club like he was at PSG to being one of many, it's hard. You have to learn to almost share the stage and that's difficult," he said.
"When Cristiano Ronaldo came to Madrid, when I was there, we all knew that whatever he wanted, like taking free kicks or penalties, he got, but that's not the case with Mbappe and it comes across to me that he doesn't like that."
He also questioned the club's decision to sign him when they already had a world-class left-winger in Vinicius Jr.
"He needs to be the star and at Real Madrid he's just another player which he's finding very hard to accept. Make no mistake, he has all the quality in the world, but I do think he's better from the left side. With that in mind, I don't understand why they signed him as they have a world-class player in that position in Vinicius Jr," he said.
Ever since joining the Spanish giants, Kylian Mbappe has struggled to live up to the hype created by fans and pundits. In 22 games for Los Blancos so far, the Frenchman has scored 12 goals and created two more.