Kylian Mbappe needs to leave Paris St Germain if he is to make an impact on the global stage like Ballon d’Or winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, former France international Nicolas Anelka said.
Mbappe, who scored 42 goals in all competitions for PSG last season, has a contract at the French club until June 2022 but has been linked with a move to La Liga’s Real Madrid.
The 22-year-old had a disappointing campaign with world champions France at Euro 2020 where he failed to score and missed the decisive spot kick in their shootout loss to Switzerland that saw them crash out in the last 16.
“If you want the biggest accolades, you will have to move from PSG at some point,” Anelka wrote in his column for The Athletic. “You can’t say you compete with the best all the time when you are at PSG.
“… If you want to win the Ballon d’Or, which is what you should be looking at to echo Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, you will have to compete with the best.”
Anelka, who won the Euros in 2000 with France, said Ligue 1 is not easy but England’s Premier League is the “toughest league”.
“So, if you want to be one of the best, then do what you do in Paris but with Chelsea or (Manchester) United or Arsenal or (Manchester) City or Liverpool. Or go to Spain to Madrid or Barcelona. Or maybe Italy,” Anelka added.
“Then we can speak about a more global impact.”
