“I was born into football,” a cartoon version of Kylian Mbappe says in the 2020 comic book Je M’appelle Kylian, which opens with him hatching from a football-shaped egg.
The comic was published by Mbappe’s camp and from the start, his story has been very carefully crafted and curated. Even before Mbappe had left the Parisian suburb of Bondy, where he grew up, to join Monaco at age 14, their work had begun. It has continued as he won a World Cup with France, became Paris Saint-Germain’s record goalscorer, and has now finally made his long-awaited transfer to Real Madrid.
Today he will be presented as a Real player at a sold out Bernabeu.
Along the way, Mbappe and those closest to him have been well aware of his worth. There are plenty of contrasts — a child from a poor ‘banlieue’ (district) who hobnobs with presidents; an ambassador for global luxury brands who says his favourite food is a ham baguette — but there is also a central thread.
“Kylian Mbappe has understood that it’s not enough to succeed on the pitch,” says Jean-Baptiste Guegan, co-author with Clement Pernia of the recently published biography Revolution Mbappe.
“His story began before the pitch. It begins with a mastery of his own channels and media, through partners and sponsors he has chosen, which correspond to his values and are based on an idea that what is rare is valuable.”
The brilliance of Kylian Mbappe
Most of today’s emerging stars quickly sign with a big-name agent to run their affairs but Mbappe’s career has always been managed by his family. His father, Wilfried, a former amateur-level player, oversaw the football side. His mother, Fayza Lamari, who played top-level handball in France, looked after his image and commercial activities.
Both drew on the experience they gained guiding Mbappe’s adopted brother, Jires Kembo Ekoko, who is 10 years older, as he progressed from talented young prodigy to a professional with Rennes in Ligue 1, the top division of French club football.
In 2017, when Mbappe was a teenager at Monaco, a company called KEWJF — which stands for Kylian, Ethan (Mbappe’s younger brother, who was a PSG team-mate but is now with Lille), Wilfried, Jires and Fayza — was incorporated, with his mum as president and Kylian as 100 per cent shareholder. This was to handle all commercial and marketing arrangements, and keep tight control over the image being projected. The family’s only outside professional advisor was Delphine Verheyden, a top Paris-based sports lawyer.
Mbappe and his mother Fayza (in the glasses) (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
“The Mbappe project is first and foremost a family project led by his mother and father,” says Guegan. “During Mbappe’s first professional season, the entourage was structured and gradually professionalised. It has become a small, attentive and benevolent family business, lucid about the world of soccer and its shortcomings.”
Communication has always been very important for Team Mbappe. As a boy, he studied interviews by stars he planned to emulate, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry. A famous example of his media precociousness came when he was 14. Monaco’s trainees were told to mock up a magazine cover featuring themselves. Mbappe’s version of Time magazine heralded “the best young player in the world”.
🔙 Tu te souviens @KMbappe quand on t’avait demandé en 2014 de te mettre en scène sur une couverture de magazine ? 👀
—–#Time #Turfu #UniqueForever pic.twitter.com/BG2taduxYf— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) February 6, 2019
Mbappe made his Ligue 1 debut for Monaco, aged 16, 11 months and 12 days, in December 2015. In his first full season, 2016-17, he scored 26 goals and provided 14 assists in 44 games across all competitions, including thrilling displays on the way to the Ligue 1 title and the Champions League semi-finals.
Reporters were eager to hear from him, and he was just as eager to tell his story. After victory with France in the 2018 World Cup final accelerated his rise to full superstardom, Mbappe made the real cover of Time, just four years after that school exercise.
Mbappe celebrates his first goal for Monaco in February 2016 (Valery Hache/AFP via Getty Images)
“Even in his first interview, he was at ease, determined, prepared, and almost already speaking his mind,” Guegan says. “So, no, his entourage didn’t prepare him, they encouraged him, even protected him. He knows what he’s talking about, he knows what he has to say, and he doesn’t hesitate to be frontal, where everyone else’s communication is smooth or even insipid.
“That’s why the French media love him, and the foreign media are lapping him up.”
Nike became Team Mbappe’s first business partner, providing free boots from the age of 10 and a first commercial contract two years later. As he emerged as a star, the family turned down many business opportunities, preferring to only work with elite brands they deemed a good fit.
Soon after winning that World Cup final against Croatia in Russia, when he was 19, Mbappe signed with Swiss watchmaker Hublot, whose very select group of ambassadors have included Usain Bolt and Pele. In 2020, at 21, Mbappe became the youngest cover star of the EA Sports FIFA video game series. His other commercial partners include eyewear brand Oakley, NFT fantasy sports platform Sorare and fashion label Dior.
“Having the ability to say no to things is unusual,” says Steve Martin, founding partner at agent MSQ Sport + Entertainment. “On the way up, you’re (usually) desperate for a boot contract, for any brand to be interested in you. Obviously (for Mbappe), the Nike support has been very strong. But he definitely picks the right things. He’s not covered in logos, not doing photoshoots every other week.”
Mbappe at a PSG news conference in May 2022 (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
In the summer of 2022, Mbappe set up his own production company, called Zebra Valley and headquartered in Los Angeles, to produce media content across sports, music, art, technology and youth culture. After Zebra Valley signed a partnership with the NBA, Mbappe attended the North American basketball league’s 2022 player draft in New York City.
“Mbappe belongs to Generation Z, whose (sporting) role models are NBA players as much as footballers,” says Guegan. “With his (social) networks too, he doesn’t need the media, it changes the balance of power. He’s not like other footballers. There are just a few who can speak not just to soccer fans, but to the world at large.”
Commercial growth saw KEWJF’s revenues rise each year. The company declared turnover of €12.2million (£10.3m/$13.3m at current rates) in 2021. Last year, Forbes estimated that figure at $20m.
In late 2023, KEWJF was reorganised and renamed Interconnected Ventures. Some staff from Verheyden’s law practice were incorporated, while ex-investment banker and beIN Media Group director Ziad Hammoud was hired as chief executive. Its president is still Mbappe’s mother, Fayza.
“The Mbappe family structure has become more professional and structured,” Guegan says. “It today employs more than 30 people, working on all aspects of Mbappe’s business, his personal and private life, sponsorships, foundation, brand and communications. There’s a real sense of professionalism, although its limits can sometimes be seen.”
In February 2020, soon after turning 21, Mbappe wrote an article for The Players’ Tribune filled with the life lessons from growing up in Bondy — part of Seine-Saint-Denis, a district of Paris with a high poverty rate and a large immigrant population.
“In Bondy, you learn values that go beyond football,” he wrote. “Maybe there’s not a lot of money. But we’re dreamers. Maybe it’s because dreaming is free.”
There was some mythologising involved, but the Mbappe family’s connection to their neighbourhood is authentic. His mother has worked on youth projects with the local council, and is close to Bondy’s former mayor Sylvine Thomassin. The family also experienced first-hand the turmoil of the 2005 social unrest in Bondy, which included dramatic street protests.
The Mbappes have always been very clear about giving something back.
After winning the 2018 World Cup, Kylian’s €350,000 bonus was donated to the Premiers de Cordee (First In Line), a charity that helps disabled children through sport. In 2020, the Inspired By KM foundation was established, which receives 30 per cent of Mbappe’s earnings. Through its activities, 49 boys and 49 girls between the ages of 13 and 21 have since received education to prepare them for future careers.
From the streets of Bondy to the world’s biggest stage.@nikefootball #Nike #BondyDreams pic.twitter.com/6WV3VSq8Xo
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) December 8, 2019
Mbappe has looked to blend this social conscience with his commercial partnerships in a way that looks very new. In December 2019, a Nike clothing range was branded Bondy Dreams, heavily featuring the number 93 — the administrative number for the Seine-Saint-Denis area. The Oakley deal involves a charity for children with diminished eyesight.
“Sport stars who see sponsorship as an obligation will never see that acceleration in their value,” says Gareth Balch, chief executive of marketing agency Two Circles. “Mbappe generates value for the people he works with by delivering his personality in an authentic way, getting behind causes he believes in. That makes his mega-following mega-excited about everything he talks about.”
In common with many other French players from immigrant backgrounds, Mbappe has not always felt fully accepted by everyone in France. After missing a penalty in the shootout when France were knocked out of Euro 2020 by Switzerland in the round of 16, he received racist abuse on social media. He was so unhappy at not receiving more official support he even publicly considered international retirement at 22.
Yet Mbappe has also looked comfortable mixing with the powerful. Being a PSG player meant taking money from the club’s Qatari owners, while not mentioning human-rights issues in that country. He has also become publicly friendly with France’s centrist president Emmanuel Macron, and walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival.
“Kylian Mbappe is an intelligent man who understands that today you can’t be a top-level sportsperson with global influence without taking a stand,” Guegan says. “He’s also clearly understood that, to paraphrase (basketball great) Michael Jordan, Republicans buy sneakers too. So his commitments suit his interests, which can sometimes be criticised in France.”
Mbappe at an event in his native Bondy (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
In March 2022, Mbappe led a boycott of certain French national-team commercial activities, not wanting to be associated with products such as fast-food chains and betting companies. He has been an ambassador of a more healthy kids’ food brand called ‘Good Gout’ (Good Taste).
“Most companies would see him as more attractive because of that,” Balch says. “They are astute and authentic decisions. Having values about who you partner with says a lot about him as a sports property, and a person. That will become even more valuable for him, over time.”
Mbappe — by now captain of France — also took a stand on the French parliamentary elections during Euro 2024. After the far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally) won most votes in the first round, he called the results “catastrophic” and said: “We hope everyone will mobilise and vote for the correct side” in the second round.
“He’s capable of taking a stand against police violence, he’s capable of following the Black Lives Matter movement, but we didn’t hear much from him after the urban riots broke out (in France in July 2023),” Guegan says. “In the recent legislative elections, he took a stance against the two extremes, whereas his team-mates Marcus Thuram and Jules Kounde called for a vote against the Rassemblement National.”
Real Madrid have always been an integral part of the Mbappe narrative.
That Je m’Appelle Kylian comic has scenes of a young Mbappe gleefully receiving a Madrid jersey for Christmas, while a photo of his teenage bedroom decorated with posters of Cristiano Ronaldo playing for the Spanish club went viral years ago.
Un sueño hecho realidad.
Muy feliz y orgulloso de formar parte del club de mis sueños @realmadrid Es imposible explicar lo feliz y emocionado que me siento en este momento. Estoy impaciente por veros, Madridistas, y gracias por vuestro increíble apoyo.
¡Hala Madrid! 🤍🤍🤍— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) June 3, 2024
A 14-year-old Mbappe being chaperoned on a tour of Madrid’s training ground by countryman, former Madrid player and later their three-time Champions League-winning manager Zinedine Zidane is also well known — although such an attachment did not stop him from turning them down at least twice, seriously annoying club president Florentino Perez, to stay at PSG in 2022.
Any past issues will go unmentioned during a super-orchestrated presentation event today at Madrid’s expensively renovated Santiago Bernabeu stadium. More than 80,000 excited fans are set to attend, with a likely global audience in the millions following the action online.
“Moving to Madrid can elevate him again,” Martin says. “He’s already a massive star but playing in Ligue 1 limited his exposure. Madrid is at a different global level commercially. Like what happened with (Jude) Bellingham.”
Among the reasons Mbappe remained at PSG so long was an astronomical salary even Madrid could not match. A related issue was how Perez insists players, even the biggest past galacticos such as David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, share their image rights income 50-50 with the club.
Beckham signing papers with Madrid president Florentino Perez in 2003 (Real Madrid/Getty Images)
Mbappe and his team have been acutely sensitive about protecting his image rights, bringing tension with PSG and the French football federation.
Negotiations with Madrid over image rights were complex, but Lamari and Verheyden reportedly used their negotiating strength to get as much as 80 per cent of that money for the player. In exchange, Mbappe has accepted a basic wage not too far ahead of new team-mates Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham. Reports suggest he will be paid a signing bonus of €150million, with a €15m annual salary.
“Having worked with Real Madrid and with Kylian, they both think the same way about engaging with brands,” says Simon Oliveira, managing director of agency KIN Partners. “That means being selective, mainly working with premium brands, so I can see a lot of synergy there. Even when Beckham was there, 95 per cent of the deals were built around the team, not the individual.”
Last February, with his PSG exit already confirmed, Mbappe’s camp moved to protect his brand by registering his name, company logo, goal celebration pose, and even a quote, “Le football, il a change” (Football has changed), as trademarks on a European level.
It all means a new chapter in this carefully crafted story. With a new football team on the pitch, and a strengthened team backing his brand, Mbappe can become one of the best-known, and highest-earning, athletes in history.
“Now it’s up to him to confirm whether he is truly in the category of Pele, Jordan, Roger Federer or Tiger Woods,” says Guegan.
“That story begins now.”
(Top photo: Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
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