Kylian Mbappe on his PSG future, Liverpool and trophy ambitions for 2020

Paris Saint-Germain and France striker Kylian Mbappe has heaped praise on Liverpool by describing the Premier League leaders as a “machine”.

In a wide-ranging interview with BBC Sport at the launch of his charity “Inspired by Kylian Mbappe”, the 21-year-old also discussed his future with the French champions, his childhood idols and his trophy ambitions for the rest of the year.

Here we take a look at what the World Cup winner had to say...

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Mbappe on his childhood idols

“Well, I’ve had phases. As a kid, it was [Zinedine] Zidane. If you’re a kid and you’re French, your idol is Zidane.

“After, it was Cristiano [Ronaldo], who I had the luck to go up against, and then the Brazilians for their way of playing. I want to leave my mark with my values, to leave a message in the history of football.”

Mbappe on being linked with Zidane’s Real Madrid

“Everyone talks about it - when I was young I talked about it too. But now I’m a player and I know it’s not the moment.”

Mbappe on his future with PSG

“We are in January - it’s the money time of the season. Imagine I answer your question and say something. Everybody will talk about it and it’s not good for PSG.

“Now I’m with PSG and I’m 100% with the club. I want to help the club grow this season, to win a lot of titles, so for me it’s not good to talk about [my future].

“I think about the club because the club helped me. I came here at 18. I was a talent but I was not a superstar. Now I’m a superstar, thanks to PSG and the French national team.

“I have to stay calm and stay focused on PSG. After that, at the end of the season, we will see. But now I’m focused on my game.”

Mbappe on Premier League leaders Liverpool

“What Liverpool do in this moment is amazing. They’re like a machine, they’ve found a rhythm and are like ‘we play again, we play again’.

“They’ve lost zero games. When you watch you think everything’s easy but that’s not easy. The guys are focused, they play games every three days and they win, they win, they win.

“Now the problem is that everybody watches Liverpool, and everybody watches what we can do against them, so now they have to show they are strong again but it’s a very good team with a very good manager.”

Mbappe on his ambitions for 2020

“It would be a treble of Champions League, European Championship and Olympic Games. That wouldn’t be bad.

“That seems unattainable for the time being but I’m going to make sure I fulfil this dream. It would be a proud moment to be able to win the first European [Cup] for PSG and for our country to keep winning.”

Today’s back pages

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