L'Équipe du soir is a popular sports panel discussion that often airs after big European nights for French teams. On the show, the country's most prominent football writers and former players dissect the performances of the team in question and offer opinions, some of which are controversial.
In their analysis of PSG's Champions League semi-final second leg loss (and subsequent exit) to Borussia Dortmund, the panel, containing some not so household names of French football such as former Werder Bremen and Bordeaux midfielder Johan Micoud and ex-Poland international Ludovic Obraniak, discussed whether the club's repeated failures on the European stage dampened the legacy of Kylian Mbappé, the club's record goalscorer.
Whilst such a question may seem ludicrous given the Frenchman's record of 256 goals in 307 matches, winning six League titles, four Coupes de France and four Ligue 1 best player awards, there is a sense of underachievement that belies his success at his hometown club, that underlying feeling that he could have done more to take PSG to the next level.
Bigger than the club?
The cultural shift at Paris Saint-Germain over the past 12 months has been stark. The departures of superstars such as Lionel Messi and Neymar have signalled the beginning of the end of the "Bling Bling" culture that has characterised the club since its takeover by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) in 2011, a culture that saw the club develop a reputation for indiscipline and permissive attitude to the lifestyle choices of certain star players, with stars such as Neymar and Marco Verratti just as likely to be in the front pages of newspapers as the back.
Whilst altogether more professional in his lifestyle and dedicated to his craft, Mbappé's time with the serial French champions has not been without its controversies, notably the yearly summer transfer saga that has finally reached its term.
For the past three summers, rumblings of the star man's discontent and desire to move to Real Madrid have dominated media coverage of PSG, with the player extending his contract in 2022 to become the highest paid player in world football at the time.
As such, Mbappé's perceived status as the main man of PSG's project did not sit well with the likes of Neymar and Messi and caused friction amongst them and other members of the squad, as well as the boisterous and opinionated PSG ultras, who saw his repeated overtures and haggling for a new contract as a lack of commitment to the club's project.
Not only did his contract guarantee a huge salary (72M€/year), but it also took player power to the next level, with the club recruiting Advisor and former AS Monaco Sporting Director Luis Campos at Mbappé's behest and giving him a say in boardroom decisions in an unprecedented move to keep a star player satisfied.
After a tremendous effort by the entire club to convince Mbappé that his future lies in his hometown, basically giving him Carte Blanche to name his price and make changes as he sees fit, Friday night's video announcement, made without the prior knowledge of the club hierarchy, was the final nail in the coffin of a saga that has seen his relationships with members of the board, notably club President Nasser Al-Khelaifi, become broken beyond repair.
Perhaps the best metaphor for the idea that Mbappé had become, or at least thought of himself as, bigger than Paris Saint-Germain could be seen in the team's away game at the Frenchman's former club AS Monaco back in March. After being substituted by manager Luis Enrique at half-time, the player took up a spot with his agent and mother in the VIP section of the crowd for the second half, sitting amongst board members and the president himself instead of on the substitute's bench with his teammates. Maybe it was Kylian Saint-Germain after all?
Phenomenon on the field?
One French phenomenon talking about another. There are few greater authorities on how to be a brilliant forward than Thierry Henry. Widely regarded as the best-ever player to grace the Premier League, the Arsenal legend's calling card was the same as Mbappé's : Get the ball on the left and drive towards goal, causing chaos with pace and trickery and keeping a cold head to finish unerringly past a bewildered goalkeeper.
Indeed, when Thierry says you're the greatest to ever play for PSG, there is probably a great degree of merit in his argument. Older supporters may point to other names: Brazilian geniuses Rai and Ronaldinho, Portuguese gunman Pauleta and more recent stars such as Zlatan Ibrahmovic, Thiago Silva and Edinson Cavani.
Like it or not, figures don't lie. 256 goals in 307 games in all competitions makes the 25-year-old the club's all-time record goalscorer, a consistently world-class figure and personality in a league that, despite a very good overall technical level, sorely lacks star power. Mbappé is the one player that transcends Ligue 1, a household name worldwide and the face, symbol and brand that transports the league into the global footballing consciousness.
There are some that might think that what the boy from Bondy, a Parisian suburb to the north east of the French capital, has accomplished with his hometown club is beyond reproach, but it's never quite that simple.
Mbappé, in the image of his employers, has dominated domestically. The question mark, the asterisk, the " Yeah but" that stops him being placed in greatest players debate can be summarised in two words: Champions League.
It's the pinnacle. The very trophy that Paris Saint-Germain strive for, to gain acceptance from the European football community and to debunk accusations of being flat track domestic bullies on a bloated, petrodollar budget.
So far, no dice. There are reasons aplenty: The Galacticos culture that, until Luis Enrique's arrival, dominated the club surely held the team back in Europe, where the gloriously talented yet disjointed group of egos would routinely come unstuck against the very best sides on the continent, the lack of domestic competition that left them undercooked at the business end of the season, Ligue 1 title more often than not safely in the pocket for another season, and the inability of successive coaches to blend the team's world class stars and more functional, dependable units to create a winning formula.
And when it nearly worked, Mbappé was not the shining star. PSG's run to the Champions League final under Thomas Tuchel in the COVID-interrupted 2019/2020 was marked by the best performances of Neymar Jr's tenure with the French side, the Brazilian's purple patch of genius dispatching the likes of RB Leipzig and Atalanta on the way to a narrow defeat in the final against Bayern Munich, to a goal very ironically scored by another Parisian that got away: Kingsley Coman.
And so back to this season. Just a week ago, our Kylian joined his teammates in applauding supporters after yet again coming up short in Europe's premier competition, this time against a Borussia Dortmund team with alot of heart, but on a technical level a team that PSG should have dispatched with ease.
Mbappé was phantom-like over the two legs, perhaps his head was already at Real Madrid, perhaps he regretted announcing his departure to the board as early as he did (February 13) and the subsequent drop in form and output that ensued, but whatever it was, it raised questions that will follow him as he leaves the capital of his home country and arrives in a capital city where these expectations are standard.
The Frenchman released a video message on social media last Friday night, announcing his departure and thanking supporters. He attended a barbeque with the club's ultras that same night, the hardcore fans with whom he enjoyed a fraught relationship, but ultimately who came to see him as one of their own. In fitting fashion, he scored PSG's only goal of a 3-1 defeat at home to Toulouse on Sunday night, captain of a second-string team freewheeling with the title already long sewn up. On Monday night, he picked up yet another Ligue 1 player of the year award. There are still two league games left as well as a French cup final to play, but the boy from Bondy has already said his goodbyes.
There has always been pressure on Mbappé's shoulders. From his emergence as a young prodigy at Monaco to joining his hometown club for an astronomical £180M back in 2018 ( After a year's loan because the club had already spent £222M on Neymar the summer before), the spotlight has been on him since day one.
He has delivered, for PSG and for the national team with whom he won a World Cup and scored a glorious hat-trick in the final of another, but now he will have to deliver the exceptional in every single game of every competition, as is the standard at arguably the biggest and most demanding club on the planet. He will go from being a huge fish in a medium-sized pond, to a huge fish amongst other giants, just one of many apex predators in a brutal ecosystem that has swallowed plenty a good player over the years.
He will leave PSG as their greatest ever player in the eyes of most, but the question mark will remain about whether he could (and should) have achieved more with the serial French champions, his hometown club and in a city where he is as symbolic as the Eiffel Tower.
There is no hiding place at Madrid, as the boy from Bondy is about to find out.
