SOCCER
Still without taking off, Frenchman acknowledged that he was indebted to the club
Published on December 25, 2024 at 2:26 pm
Mbappé in action at Real Madrid Credit: Real Madrid/Disclosure
Frenchman Kylian Mbappé participated in a meeting a few weeks ago with the president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, in which he acknowledged that he was indebted to the club, but left a good impression by conveying confidence that there will be improvement next year, according to the newspaper Spanish Brand.
According to the Madrid outlet, the athlete told the manager that the two missed penalties in a week, against Liverpool and Athletic Bilbao, affected his self-esteem and promised to change his stance in 2025. “I want to win titles,” he said. The conversation with Pérez gave Mbappé back confidence, boosting his self-esteem in his football. “No one will regret signing me,” he promised the president of the Merengue team, according to Marca, challenging himself.
With a debut season marked by ups and downs at the club from the Spanish capital, in which he accumulated dry spells, lackluster performances, missed penalties and controversies off the field, the French striker did his part in the last few games and found the net in the four consecutive victories for the team before the end of the year break.
Despite the support of coach Carlo Ancelotti and his teammates, the team’s situation, also irregular on the field, did not help. The group’s conversation with the coach after the match with Milan, in the Champions League, was the turning point, which also helped the Frenchman realize that he needed to be a leader or at least take responsibility in adverse moments.
The French star ended the season with 14 goals and four assists, numbers similar to those of teammate Vinicius Jr. and better than those of Cristiano Ronaldo when he started at Real Madrid. The improvement in performance this December also removed, at least for now, the distrust of the fans and made him, finally, a reference in the offensive sector, alongside Rodrygo and Bellingham.
As Ancelotti highlighted, the adaptation period and excuses are in the past and Mbappé’s best response will be on the field, with goals and good performance and, after the conversation with Florentino Pérez, taking a step forward, just as happened with Benzema in his worst moment and helped him to be reborn with the Real Madrid shirt.
