Gianluigi Buffon has sung the praises of new Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe following the 19-year-old’s starring role in France’s World Cup triumph this summer.
Mbappe scored four goals, including in one France’s 4-2 win in the final over Croatia, to win the tournament’s Best Young Player award.
Buffon, who joined PSG this summer, says the young Frenchman has the potential to be one of the game’s greats.
“Kylian has something more than the others,” he told PSG’s official club magazine. “I hope that he will remain humble and maintain his desire to progress and make sacrifices.
“If Kylian does that, then he will leave his mark on football history and write some incredible pages in sporting history.”
While the two are yet to play together as teammates, they have played against each other before, when Mbappe inspired Monaco to a Champions League semi-final berth in 2016-17 before Buffon’s Juventus put an end to their run.
But the young star served enough notice of his talent in that tie, with Buffon saying his then teammate Andrea Barzagli revealed just how difficult Mbappe makes life for opponents.
Buffon consoled Mbappe after their Champions League encounter in 2017.
“When I spoke with Andrea, one of my great friends, at the end of the match, he told me: ‘Gigi, in my 20 years as a professional football player, I have rarely seen somebody so fast and so quick even with the ball – I had trouble marking him’,” the legendary goalkeeper recalled.
“These words are not trivial. Andrea, when he is focused and on song, is a great defender.”