Kylian Mbappé has been named Player of the Month in Ligue 1 for the tenth time. This is unique, because no player has managed to achieve that in the history of French football. With the milestone, the attacker (24) is far ahead of number two Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was voted best player of a particular month five times during his time at PSG.
Mbappé owes the election to his strong performances on behalf of PSG in October. The attacker, often linked to Real Madrid, ended the month with three goals and an assist. This put him ahead of Aleksandr Golovin (AS Monaco) and teammate Warren Zaire-Emery.
The excellent Mbappé scored his first hat-trick of this season in Ligue 1 last weekend, in the 0-3 away match against Stade de Reims. There is therefore a good chance that the 72-time France international will also be named the best player in the French competition in November.
3 buts and 1 passe decision and 3 matches ???
Kylian Mbappé remporte le Trophée @UNFP du Joueur du Mois d’Octobre ??
@EASPORTSFC | #TrophéesUNFP |#POTM | #FC24 pic.twitter.com/EKvS1ka8UX— Ligue 1 Uber Eats (@Ligue1UberEats) November 14, 2023
Zlatan
The now retired Ibrahimovic wore the PSG shirt between 2012 and 2016 and finished that period with 156 goals and 62 assists in 180 games. In addition to five Player of the Month awards, the Swedish striker won four French national titles and two national cups. However, he also failed to win the Champions League in Paris.
Mbappé now has six Ligue 1 championships to his name. His trophy cabinet was also supplemented with three French Cups, twice the Coupe de la Ligue and three times the French Super Cup. The superstar is also ahead of Ibrahimovic in terms of assists: in 275 matches for PSG, he found the net 227 times and provided 99 assists.
Criticism Luis Enrique
Not everything Mbappé touches turns into gold. Trainer Luis Enrique believes that the attacker should act more as a team player at PSG. “I am not completely happy with Kylian today,” the PSG coach told the assembled French media after the match at the Stade Auguste-Delaune II in Reims. “I obviously have nothing to complain about his goals.”
“Kylian could help the team even more, in different ways,” said Luis Enrique with a critical eye on the contribution of his star player. “He is an absolute world-class player and we simply expect more from him. I will first talk to Kylian about it calmly, because it is a private matter.”