With his Paris Saint-Germain future up in the air once again, Hristo Stoichkov believes Kylian Mbappe needs to move to Spain or England.
Kylian Mbappe must head to either LaLiga or the Premier League if he wants to compete at the highest level, believes former Barcelona striker Hristo Stoichkov.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar is the subject of another visible public battle over his future with the Ligue 1 champions amid a contract break.
After turning down a move to Real Madrid last year in favor of a new two-year deal at the Parc des Princes, the World Cup winner is now refusing to sign an extension.
That has led to the 24-year-old being ruled out for his side’s pre-season tour of Asia and Stoichkov believes Mbappe must force a move abroad if he is to really stand out.
“He’s a great player,” he told Stats Perform. “We spoke off camera and he told me his bigger dream is to win the Ballon d’Or. It’s hard to reach his level and even more so to stay at that level.”
“Maybe PSG decided on him, on [Lionel] Messi, on Neymar, on Sergio Ramos and [Gianluigi] Donnarumma to have a competitive team and be able to win the Champions League, but it was not possible.
“If Mbappe wants to compete big, he has to go to the Spanish league or the Premier [League]. There are teams in England who can sign him [like] Manchester City, Liverpool or Arsenal.
“But he has to choose the path where he’s most comfortable because it’s not going to be easy. There’s going to be a lot more pressure and pressure on him.”
“Kylian is a great guy and very humble. Some say he’s arrogant, but he’s not. He’s very good and knows what he wants to do.”
“I hope sooner or later Kylian will have the opportunity to lift the Ballon d’Or because he deserves it.”
After a decade and a half dominated by the forces of Mbappe’s former team-mate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the famous duo’s departure from Europe effectively ended a sporting era.
Stoichkov believes Mbappe sits near the top of a new group of players who want to be considered the best in the world and predicts a big rivalry with Erling Haaland and Vinicius Junior.
“Now another era is starting with big names, like in mine Roberto Baggio, [Michael] Laudrup, me, Michel, [Emilio] Butragueno, [Jurgen] Klinsmann or [Lothar] Matthaus, many great players.
“Then this time he came with two phenomena like Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, where the two always battled. Now another comes with a litter of fantastic players.”
“Haaland, Mbappe, Vinicius, Pedri, Gavi, other players who can come close. In the coming years we will see a big rivalry between Haaland, Mbappe and Vinicius who are strikers who make a big difference.”