Mbappe opens up about money, Zidane and Stockholm scandal

French L’Équipe is highly regarded in the sports world. In times when the written press is slowly (but surely) dying, the French sports daily newspaper defies all odds and always has interesting subject. The editor pool decided that the magazine it has been publishing on Saturdays for 45 years will now come out every day. For the very first issue they prepared a spectacle titled: “Mbappe, Confidential.” With interviews not only with Kylian Mbappe himself, but also with his mother, father, grandmother, two brothers, first assistant… And these aren’t empty stories, but open conversations.

One of the many topics they covered was the happiness in football, problems in football, apparent sex scandal in Stockholm, the French team and the upcoming coach Zinedine Zidane...

"The more money you have, the more problems you have. There are people who don't see that your life is changing; they want to maintain the image of when you were a child, when you were with them... But you're not the same anymore. You have responsibilities, commitments, a job, and accounts to keep. If someone accompanies you along the way, it's a beautiful story. It's good to grow, to reach the top, with the same family and a foundation of trust. But sometimes it doesn't work out, and you have to know how to say it. That doesn't mean the bond is broken, but that this relationship isn't working. It's harder said than done, and it's a problem that many athletes and personalities face” he admitted when asked about the money.

"Hakimi and I are not savages"

Mbappe was also asked about his view on football and if he has an entourage who treats him like a king.

“I'm fatalistic about the world of football, but not about life. Life is magnificent. Football is what it is. I like to say that people who go to the stadium are lucky enough to come just to see a show and not know what goes on behind the scenes. Honestly, if I didn't have this passion, the world of football would have disgusted me a long time ago. You're never a king. I was lucky enough to make a lot of money, but I never felt like a king. Being given free rein. Being told ‘yes’ to everything. When you have to say no, you have to say no... My family says "no" more than "yes". I'm always surprised when they say "yes" said the Frenchman with a smile.

Mbappe leads France into World Cup qualifiers, no Ekitike

We are in the middle of World Cup qualifications and the French team is as strong as ever. Mbappe was asked about but, but also about Didier Deschamps’ potential replacement, which will probably be Zinedine Zidane.

"It's the most talented team, yes. The strongest, not yet. The one with the most potential, yes. It's endless. In every position, they play as starters for the best clubs in the world. That's all. But as a team, we're still no stronger than the team that won the World Cup in 2018 or the one that reached the final in 2022. Does this team have the potential to be the best? 100%. Will it be? It depends on us. We have to be ambitious with players of this quality. With Zidane, there's no need to complicate things. It's Zidane. No one's going to say no to him. Only he can do it. If it's him, fine! And if it's someone else, fine too. But he's the only one in the history of French football who has almost all the rights" said the Real striker.

Mbappe had a 'consensual relationship' in Stockholm

In October last year, the Swedish justice system has confirmed the filing of a complaint for rape in the hotel where Real Madrid's French international Kylian Mbappe stayed on the night of October 10-11 in Stockholm. The world media wrote about it for weeks but nothing ever happened. And how the player felt?

"It didn't even bother me. It was just sad to see everyone exploiting such a serious issue. It happens to too many women, unfortunately, for us to jump on it for headlines and articles. No one took the time to ask what happened to the possible victim. And when everyone saw I wasn't in this story, what happened? She's destitute, no one knows where she is, we don't care. It's a sensitive issue and it made me sad. I knew she was going to pull through because I wasn't involved, the police never called me, my name was never mentioned. I knew from the start that everything would be okay, but it's complicated. Especially for those close to me, and even more so for women. Whether you like it or not, when you talk about it, you feel like, in the other person's eyes, they're thinking, "What if there was a 1% chance I'd do something?" It hurt me. I have nothing to do with it... These are human reactions from the women around me, because there are too many who go through this. I just had to accept it, keep quiet, go to training. Sometimes you see comments... But you accept it. Carlo Ancelotti told me it was unfair. I said, "What can I do other than let it go and score goals?" he admitted.