{"id":41762,"date":"2026-06-17T04:47:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T04:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/41762\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T04:47:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T04:47:21","slug":"i-was-kylian-mbappes-captain-at-14-even-then-he-was-obsessed-by-the-pursuit-of-greatness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/41762\/","title":{"rendered":"I was Kylian Mbappe\u2019s captain at 14. Even then he was obsessed by the pursuit of greatness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tristan Muyumba played alongside Kylian Mbappe in the Monaco youth teams between 2013 and 2016. He now plays for Atlanta United in MLS.<\/p>\n

I joined Monaco in 2012, one year before Kylian arrived.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d never met him before. But he seemed pretty straightforward. We were all kids at that time. We just wanted to have fun and play football. But we knew that we were at a prestigious club \u2014 Monaco \u2014 and that there were targets we had to hit.<\/p>\n

Kylian liked messing around, having a laugh and telling jokes \u2014 just like the rest of us. But inevitably, from the first training sessions, you saw the guy\u2019s quality. You saw straight away that he had technical quality and speed that were all his own.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t have a different status to the rest of us. We weren\u2019t saying, \u201cOh look, here comes Kylian.\u201d But I think that among the staff and within the club, there were people saying to themselves, \u201cA big player has just joined the academy and we need to make sure it goes well.\u201d<\/p>\n

We had a common room at the academy and we\u2019d get together there in the evenings to watch football. We watched a lot of football \u2014 Ligue 1, Ligue 2, the National (France\u2019s third tier), foreign championships, everything. There was table football and ping pong and things like that as well. But everything revolved around football.<\/p>\n

When it came to Kylian\u2019s models, it was Cristiano Ronaldo morning, noon and night! He\u2019d watch videos of him playing for Manchester United and Real Madrid \u2014 goals, shots, the way he struck the ball, dribbles. He was a real fan, in every way \u2014 when he scored goals, he\u2019d do the Ronaldo celebration! It was pretty funny.<\/p>\n

He liked Neymar a lot \u2014 you saw that during their first two seasons at Paris Saint-Germain, when they became very close. Robinho too. But if you had to single out one player, it was Ronaldo.<\/p>\n

Before joining the Monaco academy, he\u2019d gone on trial at Real Madrid and he\u2019d met Ronaldo. They\u2019d taken a photo together and he had it as the background on his iPad. I know that it was an unforgettable moment for him.<\/p>\n

Kylian Mbappe posted an image of him at 14 years old with Cristiano Ronaldo, along with the caption: “My dream has come true” pic.twitter.com\/cMGwnHqAKt<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) June 3, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

He loved watching videos of Ronaldo\u2019s dribbles, because Kylian was really good at dribbling and one-v-ones. They were things he drew inspiration from.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny, and I\u2019ve talked about it with other team-mates from that time \u2014 the Kylian that we knew at the academy was a totally different player to the one you see on TV today. He was all about dribbling \u2014 lots of stepovers, lots of showiness.<\/p>\n

He was able to get past his direct opponent and score goals. But he was more of a wide player. He wasn\u2019t a No 9 like he is today with Real Madrid and France<\/a>. He mainly played on the left, sometimes on the right. He had his own way of playing, but Ronaldo was a model for him and a source of inspiration.<\/p>\n

He tended to want the ball to feet in his early years. That formed part of his development. Our coaches did lots of work on that with him \u2014 notably Frederic Barilaro, who was one of the youth coaches at Monaco. He really emphasised that to him: \u201cYou can\u2019t always ask for the ball to feet,\u201d he\u2019d say. \u201cAt some point you\u2019ll need to expand your game by adding some variety to it, whether that\u2019s by making runs or going in behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

He took that on board quickly. That\u2019s another one of his strengths \u2014 he takes things on board quickly. He realised that it was something that might hold him back.<\/p>\n

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\n Mbappe on the attack against Saint Etienne in 2016 (JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There again, he drew a lot of inspiration from Cristiano Ronaldo. When you see how Ronaldo started out at Manchester, he was all about dribbling and being on the wing. But then he moved into the centre and that enabled him to have the career he\u2019s had.<\/p>\n

Kylian understood that in order to stand the test of time and become one of the greats, staying on the wing and doing stepovers wasn\u2019t going to be enough. It was: \u201cI need to score goals and I need to be decisive in the majority of my matches.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he went into the Under-19s, there was a run of about six games where he scored twice in every match. We knew he was a very good player, but scoring goals and being decisive like that made a difference. He\u2019d become a different kind of player. From that moment on, things moved very, very quickly for him.<\/p>\n

Every team we played suffered against him: Marseille, Toulouse, Pau\u2026 I remember Issa Diop, the Fulham defender, was at Toulouse at that time. Kylian was monstrous in the game against them. He was practically unstoppable.<\/p>\n

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\n Muyumba was captain as Monaco Under 19s won the Coupe Gambardella in 2016 (FRANCK FIFE\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

He moved up to the reserves and then quickly to the first team. Once he started playing with the first team, we basically never saw him again.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of who he is \u2014 he had that obsession of wanting to succeed straight away. From a young age, he used to talk about becoming the best player in the world, playing for Real Madrid and winning the Ballon d\u2019Or.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t arrogance, it was self-assurance. It was an ambition for him, an obsession. Sometimes you\u2019d think: \u201cThis guy is crazy!\u201d But no, he wasn\u2019t crazy. He knew what he wanted and when he got something into his head, he\u2019d do whatever it took to achieve it. That\u2019s the mentality you need.<\/p>\n

We felt proud seeing him playing in the first team at such a young age and kind of representing us. We were all together every day \u2014 we were like brothers.<\/p>\n

Watching him play against Manchester City or Borussia Dortmund, we all went crazy. It felt like, although he was the one who was playing, it was us. We felt like we were watching ourselves playing on TV.<\/p>\n

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\n Mbappe celebrates scoring against Manchester City at the age of 18 (Oli SCARFF \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

I feel a lot of pride about having played with him. I often tease my friends about it. \u201cI used to be this guy\u2019s captain, you know?!\u201d<\/p>\n

When I watch him today, it\u2019s as a spectator, but also as a former team-mate who\u2019s proud to see his mate succeeding in the best possible way.<\/p>\n

I hope that he can go on to achieve even bigger things and bring another World Cup back to France.<\/p>\n

\u2014 As told to Tom Williams<\/p>\n