After another excellent season in front of goal, Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe has this week been nominated for a prestigious award to recognise his efforts
Although it would be quite the understatement to say that it has been another disappointing season for Real Madrid, it has been another productive campaign for forward Kylian Mbappe.
The 27-year old has 41 goals in 41 games for Los Blancos this season. 15 of those goals have come in the UEFA Champions League, two more than Harry Kane in second, despite the fact the team are not participating in the semi finals.
Domestically, Mbappe has scored 24 goals in La Liga, making him the top scorer in the league, and only behind the aforementioned Kane from players in Europe's top five leagues (Erling Haaland also has 24 goals).
As a result of these numbers, the Real Madrid number ten has been nominated for the Best French Player Abroad award. He joins fellow nominees William Saliba of Arsenal, Hugo Ekitike of Liverpool, Rayan Cherki of Manchester City, and Michael Olise of Bayern Munich.
Some very tough competition, and perhaps the award will go to Olise, but Mbappe is certainly in with a shout, after more mind blowing numbers. Not only do, as mentioned earlier, his 41 goals come in 41 games, but his minutes played are the equivalent of just under 38 full 90's. So he is scoring at a better rate of a goal every 90 minutes.
However, despite these stats, Mbappe continues to come under criticism both from fans and now even in the media. Many say that, the more his numbers improve, the more other players suffer.
Many point to the fact that both Vinicius and Jude Bellingham had the best seasons of their career the year before Mbappe joined, with both players not hitting the same levels since.
Furthermore, people refer to the situation at PSG - which saw a number of players improve once the forward departed the club, with Ousmane Dembele going from someone seen as wasted potential to a Ballon D'or winner in the space of just 12 months or so.
Then, when you look at the fact Real Madrid won both La Liga and the UEFA Champions League the season before he came to the Bernabeu, and have (almost certainly) failed to win either tournament since, it is not necessarily the best look for the player.
Nevertheless, you can't argue that the numbers are very good. So, this debate will continue to go on and on for as long as he remains in the Spanish capital. Buckle in, chaps.
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