Kylian Mbappe

'Only the second teenager to have scored a goal in a World Cup Final! Welcome to the club - it's great to have some company!' - Pelé This was the praise lauded upon Kylian Mbappé who, at just 19 years of age, led France to triumph at the 2018 World Cup. As golden confetti rained down, millions across the globe watched as the young man kissed the iconic trophy; the heir to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the best footballer in the world had announced himself. It was his crowning moment. In Kylian Mbappé: The Definitive Biography, Julien Laurens, the world's leading French football journalist, paints a vivid portrait of Mbappé's meteoric rise to global stardom. After a decade covering Kylian's career, Julien has had unprecedented access to the player, his inner circle, his coaches, teammates and family. Exploring Mbappé's humble upbringing in the suburbs of Paris and schooling at the famed Clairefontaine academy, his peerless rise with AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain, as well as his dream move to Real Madrid where his career has reached new heights, this extensive biography crafts an intimate account of Kylian's life. Julien takes us into the inner workings of Mbappé's psyche, as we witness how becoming a world superstar at just 19 affected the young Parisian. From the complex relationship he had with his boyhood club and its hierarchy to valiantly losing against Lionel Messi's Argentina in the 2022 World Cup Final, and becoming the new face of Real Madrid's galácticos, Julien shows us how the Mbappé that is poised to star at the 2026 World Cup is unrecognisable from the one who won it with France in 2018. Julien takes us behind-the-scenes of this time, into the inner workings of Mbappé's psyche, whilst also revealing the true story of his long-awaited transfer to Real Madrid in the summer of 2024, after relations between Mbappé and Al-Khelaifi broke down completely. The book will also cover Mbappé's first season at the Spanish giants, the 2024 Euros, and the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, with the paperback updated to cover the 2026 World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico, where Mbappé is sure to reach new heights with France. Authoritative, compelling and gripping, this is the definitive biography of the world's greatest footballer.