Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe said Monday it was natural for people to consider him as a potential Ballon d’Or winner this year after his World Cup exploits.
The France captain scored 10 goals at the tournament this summer to win the Golden Boot, with his country finishing fourth, and has netted 22 in the competition during his career, making him the World Cup’s all-time top scorer. Since joining Real Madrid in 2024 Mbappe has scored huge quantities of goals but the club has failed to win a major trophy. On Tuesday the record 15-time European champions host Inter Milan in the Champions League in the first match of the league phase. Veteran Portuguese coach Mourinho led Inter to Champions League glory in 2010 at the Santiago Bernabeu before he departed to take over at Real Madrid.
“But I could play dumb and tell you that I score more goals than (Dembele and Raphinha), and that they need to score more goals to be like me. “I always want to score goals and win titles… you don’t have to choose, you can do both things. “Obviously we’re in a phase where we play eight games and the objective in these eight games is to qualify, and I think we’re going to do that. But I want to think about this match in isolation from that context.
“We have to improve,” admitted Mbappe. Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho recently said he would prefer if Mbappe scored fewer goals but also worked hard to help the team win titles. Mbappe said he would accept lower numbers if it led to trophies, but noted they were not mutually exclusive. “I’d take 30 goals with titles, yes, but… for me it’s an absurd debate,” said Mbappe. Despite his history with the Italian side, whom he steered to the treble that year, the coach said that only mattered before and after, but not during the match.
