With inevitable comparisons already being made to Cristiano Ronaldo, Monaco's French teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe has been the name on football fans' lips since his devastating displays versus Manchester City in the Champions League last 16.
The 18-year-old wreaked havoc upon Borussia Dortmund in admittedly less than ideal circumstances during two enthralling quarter-final legs and, such has been the explosive nature of his recent displays, he's been tipped by both journalists and armchair pundits alike to become European football's next legitimate star.
Such lofty expectations have put paid to countless careers in the modern age, of course - or at least their upward trajectories - but an article featured in Le Parisien on Wednesday would seem to indicate Mbappé is cut from a different cloth to his fellow wunderkinds.
In his profile of 'The other Prince of Monaco', Le Parisien's Florien Fieschi details how Mbappé, who has scored 22 goals this season, still lives in Monaco's academy dorm - this despite being one of two bona fide stars in their first team, and the fact that he owns his own apartment.
Kylian still has his room at the training center. He would, however, have the means to afford a villa with an accompanying swimming pool. But that's not his thing. In Monaco, "KM" is wary of the bling-bling. When he was younger, he remembered the unnecessary excesses of certain teammates who had lost their way. To protect him, his parents convinced him to stay in the (academy) center. In their absence, he resides there.
On the other hand, when his family is there - about two weeks a month - he leaves the Louis II dormitory to join his own apartment, alongside his father, mother and little brother.
Depending on his family's presence in Monte Carlo, Mbappé - who hasn't yet gotten his driving licence - travels to training either in his mother's passenger seat or that of a man named Amir, described by Le Parisien as 'the handyman of AS Monaco'. The article also reveals that Mbappé "spends hours on Football Manager."
His meteoric rise to fame, too, has seen him become a big hit with the ladies of Monte Carlo; his mother has nicknamed him 'Justin Bieber' such is the demand for his attention following games outside Stade Louis II, with many young women reportedly breaking down crying at the mere sight of their idol.
Fieschi writes:
At the end of some matches, Mbappé sometimes causes the crying of some girls. In the parking lot of the Louis II, they are more and more waiting. Attitudes that go beyond the understanding for Mbappé, who considers football as a game. "To live in Paris would have been impossible," concludes his mother. In Monaco, at least, he is safe."
You can read the article in full on Le Parisien's website.
