“The most startling thing about the prolonged dip in form that Kylian Mbappe endured in the second half of last year was the unnerving suspicion, watching him play, that his legendary powers of acceleration might somehow have deserted him. He remained, of course, astonishingly quick. And on paper, things didn’t look too bad. He finished his final season at Paris Saint-Germain with a career-best tally of 44 goals in all competitions. He then made the semi-finals of the European Championship with France last summer and, a week later, was presented to an adoring Santiago Bernabeu crowd after fulfilling his childhood dream of joining Real Madrid. …”
NY Times/The Athletic