'Players Like Messi and Ronaldo..': Kylian Mbappe on Comparisons With 'Eternals', Plays Down Rivalry with Haaland

Kylian Mbappe has played down his rivalry with Manchester City forward Erling Haaland when quizzed whether their battle can dominate the world of football like the rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Messi and Ronaldo share 12 Ballon d’Or titles between them and dominated the sport like few others before them, however, Mbappe feels that the two ‘eternals’ redefined an era, and no other players can emulate a similar showdown.

Mbappe also said that he was ‘lucky’ to play against Cristiano and alongside Lionel Messi at Paris Saint-Germain. The Argentine world cup winner recently left PSG after the expiry of his contract and is due to join Inter Miami as a free agent.

Mbappe himself has informed PSG that he will not trigger the clause to extend his own contract beyond 2024, further adding fuel to the fire about his links with Real Madrid.

The French forward spoke to Italian media outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport and when quizzed about his potential rivalry with Haaland developing as the next Ronaldo-Messi battle, he was quick to say that every few years there’s a rivalry between two players but to sustain it for so long as Messi and Ronaldo did would be difficult.

“Things should be read differently. It happens perhaps every fifty years or more to have two players like Messi and Ronaldo at such levels for so long. We lived through an exceptional era and I hope the fans took advantage of it,” said Mbappe.

Kylian added, “I was lucky enough to play against Cristiano and then against and together with Leo: they are truly special. I learned a lot from them, especially with Messi in these two seasons. They wrote the history of football: they are eternal.”

The 2018 World Cup winner recently sent an official letter to PSG stating that he does not wish to extend his current contract beyond 2024, which means he’d become a free agent next summer.

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PSG are reportedly infuriated at the move and have given the Frenchman two choices, – either to extend his contract now or to leave, they will not let Mbappe leave on a free transfer.