Villas-Boas Tips Mbappe As Messi And Ronaldo’s Successor
Olympique Marseille manager Andre Villas-Boas claims Paris Saint Germain wonder kid Kylian Mbappe is Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s natural successor to the Ballon d’Or.
Mbappe came fourth behind Luka Modric, Messi and Ronaldo at the Ballon d’Or awards last year and has been added to the 30-man shortlist of this year’s edition after an impressive form last season at the Parc des Princes.
The 20-year old has scored six goals and assisted four in all competitions this season for Paris Saint Germain.
The 2018 World Cup winner is setting the bar high and rarely do we see a player of his age dominate with such consistency.
Villas Boas was speaking to the media ahead of Marseille’s visit to PSG on Sunday, and he believes that Mbappe has what it takes to become a future Ballon d'Or winner than Neymar.
"Kylian is progressing to be the natural successor of Cristiano or Messi at the Golden Ball. Everyone thought that Neymar would be their successor, but Kylian, seeing what he does at age 20,” he said on Friday at a press conference.
”Ricardo Carvalho (his assistant) often tells us about his debut in the pro group when he was a kid in Monaco, he was quiet, he did not think he would have that destiny ... and he exploded!”
The Portuguese coach was amazed with Mbappe’s display in Paris Saint Germain 5-0 win against Club Brugge in the Champions League on Tuesday.
He said: “Whether it is high block or low block, it is difficult, it can kill you in the same way. Technical quality, short space, long space, velocity.”
“The goal he put against Bruges, he will touch the ball in the middle, takes the depth, and he sneaks into a small space between the defense and the goalkeeper.”
“The pass is so good that in this short space he manages to control and score.”
