Mbappé: People have short memories – if you don’t win trophies, everything is forgotten

Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé recently sat down for an interview with the YouTube channel Sorare, where he discussed what he still aims to achieve in his football career and the fleeting nature of fame.

When asked about his remaining ambitions, the Frenchman responded, “The simplest answer is to win all the trophies, but there are players who have achieved even more than that. In football, there’s always something more to strive for.”

“I don’t know how it is in other fields, but in football, people have short memories: you can win everything, and the next day it’s already forgotten. Especially if those victories were a few years ago. If you don’t keep winning, someone else will take your place. That’s how it will be in any case, because that’s the cycle of life and sport,” Mbappé added.

Asked if he fears being forgotten, Mbappé replied, “In football, we call it ‘the little death.’ When you’ve known fame, and then you move on to the next stage of life… life itself, of course, continues. In our profession, you can end your career quite young, but life still moves forward. However, I don’t think I’ll miss the routine. The flights, the training – I certainly won’t miss that. But the competition, the struggle – yes, I will miss those a lot.”

Regarding the age at which he plans to retire, the star stated, “My body and, most importantly, my mind will decide. It’s very important for a player to retire gracefully. I see it with the new generation. I have a younger brother, and when I watch football with him, I notice it particularly clearly. The footballers I watched as a child were already in the twilight of their careers for him, and to him, they were ‘spent’ as players because they didn’t leave at the right time.”

“I tell him, ‘Are you serious?’ Ethan was born in 2006 and doesn’t even know what Cristiano Ronaldo was like at Manchester United,” Mbappé concluded.