Mbappe has been a Ronaldo fanatic; Ronaldo believes Mbappe is the future.

It’s the Christmas break before Real Madrid clinch the much awaited La Decima. At the team’s training complex at Valdebebas, it is business as usual. One after another the crème de la crème of luxury cars and world football are arriving for a holiday break training session. Greeting them inside the facility is a twitchy 13-year-old, wearing the club’s original jacket. The boy, who has come to the Spanish capital all the way from the Parisian suburbs, has been in a state of shock since his inviter, club director Zinedine Zidane, received him in his car. “Should I take off my shoes?” he’d nervously ask the French icon. It’s Zizou who gifts him with the Real Madrid apparel.

For Kylian Mbappe, who turns 14 later in the week, the greatest gift arrives at last as the man postered all over his bedroom walls walks up to him. It’s his hero Cristiano Ronaldo. A cute little meeting illustrated on the pages of the comic book, Je M’appelle Kylian. As Ronaldo puts his hand around Mbappe’s shoulder, Zidane volunteers to take a photo. Click. This one is going down in the vaults.

A page from Je M’appelle Kylian, the comic book based on Mbappe’s life story.11 years later, when Mbappe – now 24 – uploaded the image on his Instagram to announce his move to Real Madrid, Ronaldo commented, “My turn to see, excited to see you light up the Bernabeu.” It is the most read comment in the app’s history. One that brings to full circle one of the tales of the 21st century sport. A passing of the baton from an idol to his fan.

Ronaldo had agreed to it four years ago, “Mbappe is the future and the present.” Mbappe hasn’t shied away from conceding that he has always been a Ronaldo fanatic. So much so that his persona is derived from the Portuguese’s. “Since I was a kid, I imitated all his gestures.”

When Portugal and France meet in a Euro quarterfinals on Friday, the highlight will be Mbappe, 25, and Ronaldo, 39, on either side of the field in a clash of generations. Theirs’ are two stories that are different yet similar in many ways, and when viewed in sequence best demonstrate the natural evolution of footballers.

Football happened for Ronaldo, organically. At the age of nine, the boy from a family of modest means in the island of Madeira had pictured himself becoming a fisherman. Futebol de rua, the Portuguese iteration of street football that pays an emphasis on bringing communities together and fostering friendships was his gateway to the sport. To play professionally was the dream, but not one he saw turn into a reality until it did.

Mbappe, as he puts it in his comic, “was born into football.” The boy branded as the next big thing before he stepped foot outside the ghettos of Bondy in the suburbs of the French capital. At 10, Nike provided him with free shoes. Two years later, a full contract. Fabled Sevilla FC scout Monchi once told The Guardian, “By the time Kylian was 12, all of Europe knew about him, and it was too late for a club like ours to make a move.”

To Mbappe and those around him it was clear from the early days, the boy was meant to become the best in the world, and that is what they told Europe’s elite clubs were buying with their early investment. It was a tag Ronaldo had to grind for during his prime years at Manchester United and Real Madrid.

An advertising billboard for Nike with French footballer Kylian Mbappe covers the front of the Eglise de la Sainte Trinite church under renovation in Paris, France, July 2, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

It was the return on investment an 18-year-old Ronaldo brought to United – as well as that of his arch nemesis, 17 when he debuted for Barcelona – that changed the game in terms of player-club dynamics. All across Europe, the race ensued for the next holder of the crown, before his market value was unaffordable for them. Scouting networks were expanded. And that is what Mbappe and Co cashed in on.

There’s this negotiation flex that Mbappe’s mother pulled off for her 12-year-old son on the Chelsea execs that best display the upper hand they had. The London club were impressed by the speedy winger’s audition. The Club’s head of youth development however, wanted to see Kylian pass the ball more often before putting pen to paper. To this, came the cold response of Fayza Lamari. “No, we won’t come again. If you want to sign him, you sign him now. In five years’ time, you will come back for him for £50 million.” It is telling of the influence his parents have had on his game and brand, vis-a-vis his idol, and how families have shaped them as individuals.

Family men

No memory of a meaningful conversation with his alcoholic father, and his demise when Ronaldo was 19, frustrates him the most. He concedes as much in his 2015 documentary before his desolate face turns to one of pride as he adds, “I think I managed to handle things in his absence.”

For Ronaldo, the youngest of four siblings who was also an unwanted child, stepping up as the head of the family helped forge his alpha personality. Like his father, Ronaldo’s elder brother Hugo too was spiraling into alcoholism – selling Ronaldo’s Man United shirts to buy booze – when he intervened to make him go clean. Hugo now runs the Ronaldo museum in Funchal.

Soccer Football – Euro 2024 – Round of 16 – Portugal v Slovenia – Frankfurt Arena, Frankfurt, Germany – July 1, 2024 Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo scores a penalty during the penalty shootout REUTERS/Heiko Becker

Through his mother Dolores, who bore the brunt of her husband’s drinking habits, Ronaldo’s protective nature for the family can be further understood. Dolores has been banned from watching the high pressure games her son plays, especially alone. An answer to it may have been in Portugal’s Round of 16 game against Slovenia. The sight of his teary eyed mother in the stands is speculated to have set off the emotional meltdown of Ronaldo after his penalty miss. How much of it is true, only Ronaldo can tell. The fact that the Portuguese has kept his family distanced from his sport is evident.

From a young age, Ronaldo leaned heavily on professionals such as the seasoned agent Hugo Mendes to overlook his empire. Project Mbappe on the other hand has been a family affair, through and through.

Lamari, his mother, is projected as an iron fist behind all of Mbappe’s decisions, uncompromising and unyielding when it comes to her son’s best interest. A source at Real Madrid told The Athletic what he made of Lamari during the 2022 negotiations of the club with the player that eventually came to a halt after Mbappe signed an enormous new deal with PSG.

“She is implacable. She tells you, ‘No’ – and she doesn’t leave an inch. She wanted more.”

Lamari also believes her son takes his “I will do whatever I want” side from her.