Lionel Messi has already identified Kylian Mbappe as a “complete” striker as the Frenchman performed a U-turn on Messi’s long-term sporting rivalry with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Paris Saint-Germain superstar Messi was named the best player in the world during a glittering ceremony in France on Monday evening as he pipped club teammate Mbappe to the top prize.
It came in the aftermath of Messi being the hero in Argentina’s remarkable World Cup final victory over France but he was beaten to the Golden Boot by his club team-mate, who netted a stunning hat-trick in the showpiece event at the Lusail Stadium which may be remembered as the tournament’s greatest ever final.
Mbappe and Messi had to put aside their club unity as they went head-to-head in the World Cup. The French striker celebrated his equalising goal in the final in front of Messi, perhaps illustrating how the players had been motivated to greater heights in the game by each other.
Mbappe, PSG's only representative in the French World Cup squad, was then mocked by Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez in the victors' celebrations. However, the two superstar forwards are now back on the same team and the two have made respectful remarks to each other this week.
After Monday night’s award ceremony, Mbappe wrote on his Instagram: “Another trophy at home. Big congratulations to @leomessi you are #TheBest.” This appeared to be a reversal of the striker’s stance on the long-running Messi and Mbappe debate.
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Last September, Messi explained to TUDN Mexico when speaking on PSG teammate Mbappe: "Kylian is a different player, a beast who is very strong in one-on-one, who goes into space, who is very fast, who scores a lot of goals.
"He is a complete player and he has proved it for years, and in the years to come, he will certainly be among the best."
The recent mutual comments of Messi and Mbappe are hugely complimentary and respectful of each other, however, it has been suggested in the past that the Frenchman preferred Ronaldo to his future Argentine teammate.
The striker’s father admitted that the veteran was among Mbappe’s heroes in the game. Speaking in 2016, he said: "He [Mbappe] is a Real Madrid fan and his idol is Cristiano Ronaldo. He used to spend hours watching videos [of Ronaldo] on the internet."
That was a claim that was backed up by Mbappe’s former teammate Abdou Diallo. He previously suggested that the striker was under no illusions about who was better.
Speaking in December, the defender said: "Cristiano Ronaldo is literally everything to Kylian Mbappe. If you mention Lionel Messi against Cristiano, Mbappe will debate with you for at least an hour. For him, Cristiano is untouchable."
