Real Madrid ‘want to make Mbappe deal happen’ says pundit
Kylian Mbappe was once whisked to the Real Madrid training ground by Zinedine Zidane after being scouted by Los Blancos as a teenager. The prodigious talent became a well-known name around Europe during his youth, most of which he spent at his local club AS Bondy before being picked up by Monaco.
During his upbringing in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, Mbappe was earmarked as a future international star and trained at the French academy in Clairefontaine.
He was also invited to Chelsea’s Cobham base among other expeditions, but a car journey with Zidane in 2012 is particularly memorable for the 21-year-old.
Recounting the experience to The Players’ Tribune, Mbappe wrote: “Right before my 14th birthday, I got an incredible surprise.
“My father received a call from someone at Real Madrid, inviting me to come to Spain for a training session over the holiday break.
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“But it was actually my 14th birthday that week, and what I didn’t know is that my parents were organising everything with the club so that they could take me to Madrid as a present.
“And believe it or not, we didn’t tell anyone where we were going. I didn’t even tell my closest friends, because I was too nervous. If things didn’t go well, I didn’t want to come back to my neighbourhood and disappoint them.
“I will never forget the moment that we arrived at the training center from the airport.
“Zidane met us in the parking lot by his car, and it was a really nice car, of course.
Kylian Mbappe made his Monaco debut aged just 16 (Image: Getty)