The fevered speculation around the future of Kylian Mbappe has at last come to an end.
The 18-year-old France sensation has left Ligue 1 champions Monaco to join rivals Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG will take the forward on loan for the season but with an option to buy him next year for a reported fee of €180million, making him the second most expensive player in history behind new team-mate Neymar.
While it is said the deal has been structured to allow PSG to avoid Financial Fair Play complications, it is nonetheless a staggering outlay on a teenager with only one year in senior football, even though he has been linked with practically every top club on the continent.
So just how good was Mbappe last season? Is he really worth this level of investment? With Opta’s help, we assess his remarkable year.
13 – Mbappe is the youngest player to score 13 goals in Ligue 1 for 30 years (18 yo 3 m), ahead of…Thierry Henry (19 yo 3 m). Pupil. pic.twitter.com/4lhEcBjtNZ
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) March 19, 2017
EUROPE’S MOST ACCURATE MARKSMAN
Mbappe scored 26 goals and registered 11 assists in all competitions as Monaco won Ligue 1, reached the final of the Coupe de la Ligue and the semi-finals of the Coupe de France and the Champions League.
Of all the players in Europe’s top five leagues to score at least 20 last term, Mbappe took the third-fewest number of shots (80), behind only Timo Werner and Alvaro Morata (both 76).
He hit the target with more than half (54) of his attempts and enjoyed a conversion rate of 32.5 per cent, the highest of anyone on the 20-plus goals list – the nearest was Alexandre Lacazette on 30.6 per cent. Lionel Messi, top-scorer with 54, was down on 21.6.
New team-mates Edinson Cavani (23.1) and Neymar (14.3) are way down, too.
BEATEN ONLY BY THE BEST FOR GOAL INVOLVEMENT
Out of players in the top five leagues with a minimum of 15 goals and assists combined, only Messi (63.6) had a better minutes-per-goal-involvement ratio than Mbappe (71.2).
Cavani was down at 75.2 and Neymar much further back at 96.9, while Radamel Falcao, Monaco’s top scorer with 30 goals, was at 81.8.
This underlines how ruthless Mbappe can be when it comes to playing the right pass in the attacking third or taking a chance himself.
However, his total combined haul of 37 goals and assists was dwarfed by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo (53), Cavani (55) and Messi (70) last term.
18 – Kylian Mbappe (18 yo 95 days) has become the youngest
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