Mbappé breaks his silence in exclusive interview with French television: everything he said

Why is Mbappé speaking now? It’s a good question and, without doubt, a justified one: the French superstar has just made the move to the biggest club in the world and the pressure cooker is always whistling.

If he had scored 30 goals already he could’ve scored 35, that’s how things work in the Spanish capital. Iker Casillas, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, heck, even Alfredo Di Stéfano, all got booed at the Bernabéu, it’s a tough place to live and a tougher place to thrive.

“The problem, when you’re a star”, Mbappé said in a trailer of the exclusive interview by CANAL+ journalist Moloud Achour, “is that people speak for you. Every day things come out while I haven’t spoken to anyone. That’s why I’m talking to you today. At a certain point, you have to speak. You need people to understand you.”

What did Mbappé say in the interview with French television?

The interview began with Mbappé talking about life in Madrid: “I am very happy. I am starting a new stage in my life. It’s my first experience abroad. I am discovering a wonderful country, with welcoming people. It’s a great country”, he said.

When asked about how his personality copes with being criticised as a footballer, Mbappé was as honest as was intimated: “I’ve been described as very mature... Sometimes I send messages without having to speak and sometimes I send messages in spite of myself. People see us as robots. There’s a robotic circle that wants that. When you go beyond that... We are human like everyone else".

As for his future at Real Madrid, the Frenchman kept to a line used by many footballers: I never know what’s going to happen. My life is a river of unknowns".

Sticking to tough topics, a question came about the incident reported in Sweden, when Mbappé was on holiday: “I was surprised. It always surprises me. These are things that happen that you don’t see coming. I didn’t get anything, not a subpoena. I read the same as everyone else. The Swedish government hasn’t said anything. I’m not worried about it. It’s just lack of understanding, because I’ve never felt worried about the noise. I always had the same intention, which is to concentrate on my work and see how it ends. If I am summoned, I will go.

“It wasn’t even an afternoon [on holiday]. I had five days off, I decided to go. I had to go somewhere else, but the coach told me to go somewhere less exposed. Everything is going well, I’m calm."

“Since I was 14 years old, everyone told me I was going to be big”, he said when asked about his life as a famous face, “but when you’re big, sometimes you feel small. The football crowd is very versatile. It’s sometimes good... but sometimes not so good".

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‘I can’t be blamed for caring about my country’

The young man is a proponent of social causes, and is not afraid to speak out about politics, recently causing a stir as he made his political beliefs public ahead of the French elections.

“France is full of diversity, where we don’t impose on young people what they should be. I grew up with our culture in Bondy (his native neighbourhood on the outskirts of Paris). In Monaco, I got to know another culture. Then, I was Kylian, and when you are known, you are accepted anyway. But I always wanted to express myself as a citizen.

“I am someone open to dialogue. When I see something that moves me, I respond. What was happening in France, it moved me. We are French citizens. Nobody is perfect, I can’t be blamed for caring about my country.”

On the French National Team, which Mbappé has not been a part of in recent call-ups, he said that “the French national team has always been the highest level of soccer. My love for the French national team hasn’t changed.

‘We don’t have recovery time; in the NBA they have 4 months'

"Yes, I miss it, because I haven’t been there for a long time. In September I asked the coach not to go. I had just arrived in Madrid. I had a very short vacation. The coach insisted that I go. After October I got injured, I wasn’t on the list, I was talking to them, and the coach told me it was better not to call me up. He’s the boss, I’m behind him. I wanted to go, but I can’t say why they didn’t call me.”

The football calendar has been a huge point of concern for elite players, with the increasing number of games a potential reason behind injuries to key figures in Europe such as Rodri and Dani Carvajal: “I have a different vision” Mbappé admitted. “You want us to play, we’ll play. But we don’t have recovery time. It’s up to you. I always want to play. But give us recovery. In the NBA, they have four months off. We take two weeks off. And the second week, you’re back to running. It’s not a vacation."

“At the Euros I collapsed, I was tired”, he explained. “I wanted to stay because you give everything for the French national team. But it was exhausting. I went on vacation immediately. I didn’t wait. I had my presentation in Madrid and then I went on vacation”.

‘It’s a super intense place, through thick and thin’

“I always dreamed of Real Madrid” he said when the topic changed to Los Blancos. “I don’t know when or how, but I knew I was going to play here. I have a good visual memory. The day before the presentation, there was a three-hour briefing, I had to translate for my mother and father, it was exhausting. The next day you have a first contact with the players, then I meet the coach, there’s Zizou, the public welcomes you like a king, the president talks about you...”.

He spent 7 years at PSG, a club that, in his words, “meant a lot to me”.

“It’s a super intense place, through thick and thin. I spent seven extraordinary years. Maybe the mistake I made was to mix everything up. I had conflicts with people, I defended my rights as a player, but I didn’t represent the club, I never mixed anything with the players, with the people from the youth academy and the staff. The fans could have been more vocal. They say Kylian doesn’t care. They think it was a hobby for me, before I went to Madrid. I still watch PSG games, I know how difficult it is to talk about PSG. I’ve always maintained a link with the club, you don’t just cut it off like that.”

‘I hope PSG don’t win the Champions League right now’

“I know very well in what state of mind the players are in” he continued, hinting at the bad form the team is showing, “how difficult it is because of this obsession for the Champions League that I have always had too. For now I hope they don’t win it, because I want to win it myself. In the future I hope they win because people have suffered a lot. But not now, because I have to earn it. I wrote my history in Paris. I broke records, I won titles. Now I’m at the best club in the world."

Back on the topic of Real Madrid, he said that “the people are with [me]. They support [me], it’s the Spanish culture, to share experiences. In Paris it’s something else: “Show that we must love you.” In Madrid, they tell you: ‘Come with us. You are part of the family."

His departure from PSG felt like it took an age, with plenty of news stories that even shocked Mbappé: “I’m in the car and the news comes out that the emir of Qatar is going to make me an irrefutable offer to stay at PSG. But he actually said to me, ‘They think I’m going to make you an offer, but you have decided to leave and I respect your decision. You want to fulfil your dream of going to Real Madrid, thank you for everything. That got under my skin. I told him I was going to do my best until the end of the season."

‘There are people who are very depressed, we have to help them’

As mentioned, his mental state is not a taboo topic for Mbappé, who is always keen to express his feelings. “I had moments when I was tired, but I was not depressed”, he admitted. “There are people who are very depressed, we have to help them. At one point I felt exhausted, because I haven’t rested. I have had sporting disappointments. But the other thing is just talking for the sake of talking, which is free.”

The question inevitably came about the Ballon d’Or, to which he replied “which top trophy is left for me? The Champions League, that’s why I’m at the best club."

“And the Euros”, he remembered, “and why not make it to the Olympics one day? And individual trophies count too, like the Ballon d’Or. I know what I have to do to win it, a lot of things on and off the field. When I do everything I need to do to win it, I will win it.”

Kylian lost the 2022 World Cup final to Argentina, led by his PSG teammate, Lionel Messi: “After the World Cup final, when I saw Messi at PSG training, I was still so angry,” Mbappe admitted. “But he told me I had already won it before, and now it was his turn.

“I was furious, but you respect it because it’s Messi. We broke the ice by laughing together because we had fought a battle. We created memories from the final. I think that final brought us closer together.

“I learned very lot from him. Messi does everything well. You can learn everything from a guy like that. I used to go up to him and ask him, ‘how do you do this? how do you do that?’."

Back on Madrid, he added that “[being here], you discover a new context, a new club, a new climate, a new environment. You open all your senses. It’s more about observing. I’m going to succeed here. At the beginning I was too hungry and it tricked me because I was impatient. But I have passion and this competitive side. Sometimes, it played against me. I always want the next thing. All the trophies I’ve won, I want to win them again. You have to show that you are a winner and that you can always win.”

‘Betting is something that has destroyed people I know’

Kylian has previously spoken out against betting sponsors in football, saying that it “is something that has destroyed people I know. I also did it in the national team, with image rights. I never received a euro from the French national team, we disagreed about image rights and the promotion of sports betting and junk food. I said: “I’m not going to go there”. Le Graët (then president of the FFF) called me and I said, “Keep your mouth shut, I’m not going.” He said to me, “It’s your commitment.” But the statutes have been changed and everything is going well, even the federation is happy now.”

Kylian’s parents have often been mentioned in his development, with some even criticising them for being too involved: “Enough is enough, Kylian Mbappé is telling you. My parents never pushed me. My father never made me walk around the pitch at six in the morning. They let me have fun. It was my choice. My parents pushed me to go to school”.

‘Young people shouldn’t dream of being me’

“I was put in the spotlight very early on”, he continued. “Young people shouldn’t dream of being me. My little brother was famous at the age of seven and signed autographs. Because the goal of a dream is to have no limits. I didn’t dream of anyone. I dreamed of being great."

Reports came out that Kylian offered his brother the option of staying at PSG if it would benefit his career: “That happened”, he confirmed. “It was what affected me the most. It was Madrid or PSG. And he told me he didn’t want to stay, that it wasn’t normal what they were doing to me. I told him, ‘If you want to stay, I’ll renew and we’ll stay a little longer.’ I would have given up my dream of Madrid for him, so that nothing happens to him. What’s the point of signing for the best club in the world if you kill your brother’s career”.

As for France’s success, Mbappé said “at the moment we have reached two finals, one useless. We have to re-establish order. It’s a bit complicated, but we always knew how to do it, how to get back to the right place. If I manage to get two stars out of the three on the jersey? It wouldn’t be bad."

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But it’s not always been a success with France: “At Euro 2021 they lied from the first to the last day, they called me a monkey, they put the responsibility for some failures on me. It’s the French national team, I’ve always given my all. You serve your country and that’s it, it’s writing for the sake of writing, talking to hurt you. To make you unhappy. I always put the French national team at the highest level. I did everything I could to represent it as well as possible. I broke my nose and people tell you that they don’t care about you, that you focus more on Madrid than on France. But I don’t give up."

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