A Love letter to Paris.
…how does a love letter start…and more poignantly how does it finish. Usually a fable of love will begin with fresh beginnings, new horizons and insurmountable achievements. Just like the river that kisses the banks of Paris, we find Kylian Mbappe engrained in the city’s recent tale of triumph, its football club.
For Paris Saint Germain triumphant nights in football have been a long time in the making, a club founded in 1970 to attract a new era of Parisian football supporter, it has always been an institution harbored by its success.
Early achievement’s in the formative years arrived with the Coupe De France, PSG picking up the first of many romances with this trophy in 1982. A classic game featuring the much loved and adored Michel Platini for Etienne, a climatic ending resulting with the Parisian side winning via a penalty shoot-out. The glory of this competition all to see, from passion, to the prestigious glimmer of the Belle Coupe Doree. A competition not only favorable to Paris but one their supporters alone adore.
PSG lift the Coupe De France in 1982
…all of this many moons before the arrival of a particular Kylian Mbappe.
Domination would be a word to best describe the intervening years between 2010 to 2019 for PSG with names like Ibrahimović, Neymar Jnr and Messi all donning the Tour de Eiffel club crest and draping themselves in the traditional colours of Rouge-et-Bleu including a tokened David Beckham. Trophies began to pile the mantelpiece of Parc De Princes with footballs greatest talents attracted by the newly invested money from Qatar. An investment that turned PSG’s fortunes and image, for good. With an abundance of financial backing unseen before in Paris, Nike Jordan and Luis Vuitton collaborations soon followed. Football had a new powerhouse in QSI and the Parisian streets with its undying iconic style was its new playground.
Would those early institutions of PSG be swallowed up into the adjacent gutters of local neighbourhoods? or was this the attention Paris and its football club craved.
Chasing dreams can come at a cost with onlookers claiming that Paris had been ripped from the heartstrings of PSG.
It needed new blood, Parisian Blood and a lifeline to anchor the city with its people, cue a young man from the suburbs.
Kylian Mbappe had been busy learning his early footballing skills with his father Wilfried Mbappe a local coach in the region of Bondy. Those skills harnessed and drilled by local football club AS Bondy and the early signs of stardom were all there to behold, remarkable speed, dribbling ability and that undeniable finishing prowess.
If Paris Saint Germain needed a new son, then Kylian Mbappe was ready to fill those boots.
Kylian wearing 29 for Monaco
A significant time spent at AS Monaco allowed Kylian’s talents to truly shine on the major French Football stage but it was more than just a showcase. Players such as Bernardo Silva, Radamel Falcao and Fabinho all lighting up the Le Louis to bring Le Championnat home for the first time in 17 years.
Monaco scored no fewer than 107 goals during the 2016-17 title winning season with Kylian scoring 15 and assisting 8, Les Rouge-et-Bleu came calling.
With an initial loan period agreed between the clubs a transfer emerged the following season that shook the foundations of football. Kylian Mbappe was announced to the footballing world and with that a superstar was born. If Monaco was the showcase years then this was the Le Grande Spectacle.
A quake of accolades and footballing triumphs soon followed, not content with success in Paris his balance and skills soon adorned the national team and the cherished Coupe De Monde. A well-rounded French side saw the likes of Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann and Raphael Varane all grace the tournament in Russia, however heads were now turned to Kylian after becoming the first teenager since Pele to score in the World Cup final. The young protégée from Bondy had landed and PSG received a newly crowned World Cup Winner to boot.
Parc Des Princes smelt of roses and Kylian Mbappe was its newly anointed King.
Within his scholarship there were nobleman at his side including multi Ballon D’or winner and all-round footballing genius, Lionel Messi.
In the two-seasons playing together they managed to lift back to back Ligue 1 titles…however the mystical and acclaimed Coupe De France slipped the grasp of the Argentine leaving only the glimmer of that famous trophy lingering dans la boue du Stade de France.
WZE – Youth protégés
…and so here is 2024.
A time in the history of QSI Ownership that has seen a shift in the strategy for PSG. Moving away from the stormy hills of Ballon D’or winners with all the entourage they bring and focusing on the development of youth. A new hope, a new horizon and one that doesn’t include our subject, Kylian Mbappe.
The transfer was always going to happen and who knows the contract could well have been agreed years ago, but for Parisians the dawning of Kylian leaving Le Parc is all but a moment away. When the Bernabeu comes calling and the warms hands of President Florentino Perez rest upon your shoulders, the ink pen and the stone white contract awaits your mark. Allez Paris unmistakably has almost been excused for Hala Madrid as this text is being read.
Mbappe no.7
…after Kylian.
A new dawn shapes the view of most Parisians waking up in 2024 lined with Barcola’s, Zaire-Emery’s, Ugarte’s and Ramos’s. As they search for a new team and a new spirit within the confines of Paname, losing a player of the statue of Mbappe could prove even more costly than his already lined pockets.
…but one thing remains within this cultured, cherished and titanic football club…le cœur de la ville vit… à travers ses pavés… à travers ses habitants… à travers son football – alexLEboxe 2024.
CUP Ultras PSG
Photography (Heading) Alize Dally @allohya
Photography (WZE Protégés) Alize Dally @allohya
Photography (Mbappe No.7) Alize Dally @allohya
Photography (Ultras) Alize Dally @allohya
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