Zlatan Ibrahimovic has questioned Kylian Mbappe’s desire to become one of football’s greatest players after the France star snubbed Real Madrid to sign an extension with Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
“Mbappe, as a person I do not know him very well. As a player, he is fantastic,” Ibrahimovic said in an interview with Canal Plus, as translated by ESPN. “But when you lose discipline, you lose your identity.
“There is a reason why Zidane is Zidane. Mbappe wants to imitate him? That he starts to want to progress. Not to be satisfied.
“He made the right choice for Paris not for himself. Because he put himself in a situation where he is more important than the club. And the club gave him the keys for that. But you are never bigger than a club. But when a child becomes strong, he can easily earn money.”
Ibrahimovic also slammed Mbappe’s advisers for meddling in the star’s career and turning last summer’s transfer saga into a media circus.
“So his parents become lawyers, agents, coaches. From one thing they become another,” he said. “And that’s the problem. That’s when you lose your self-discipline and who you are.
“Today with this new generation, the parents, dad, mom, who you want, they think they have become stars. They talk in the newspapers. But who do you think you are? Shut up. It is up to your son, the player, to work and have discipline.”
Mbappe appeared set for a move away from Paris last summer amid reports linking him with a transfer to last season’s Champions League winner Real Madrid. But speculation ended after he made a sensational U-turn and signed an extension.
The 23-year-old became one of the world’s highest-paid footballers after agreeing to a new three-year contract reportedly worth $128 million for the 2022-23 season, according to Forbes.
However, In October, reports emerged claiming Mbappe felt betrayed by PSG and was eager to leave in the January transfer window. But the 2018 World Cup winner later denied the report, saying he never asked to leave.
Ibrahimovic helped PSG win the Ligue 1 title during each of his four years in Paris before leaving in 2016. He returned to Milan in 2020 after stints at Manchester United and LA Galaxy.