French sensation Kylian Mbappe says he surprised even himself with his meteoric rise

At just 18 years of age, Kylian Mbappe is the hottest property in football and the French sensation admits that he has been surprised by how quickly his star has risen.

“I always had lots of imagination when I was little, so I am not going to say that I hadn’t imagined it,” Mbappe said in an interview when asked if he expected to have won a league title and become a full international at such a young age.

“I imagined succeeding early, but I didn’t really think things would happen so quickly.

“Of course I always believed. The players who have succeeded in their careers are the ones who believed in themselves.”

Billed as the new Thierry Henry, Mbappe made his top-flight debut for Monaco in December 2015 when still aged just 16, but it is in the last six months that he has gone from a player of great promise to one of the biggest stars in Europe.

He scored 15 goals to help Monaco win a first French title since 2000 and won his first cap for France in March.