Kylian Mbappe has been warned he has "more chances" of winning the Ballon d'Or by staying put at Paris Saint-Germain rather than upping sticks for Real Madrid.
The superstar forward, 23, finished ninth in the voting for the prestigious individual accolade last year but appears to have much stronger hopes of success in 2022. He has an astonishing 21 goals and 14 assists this season, scoring in both Champions League last-16 legs against Real Madrid even though PSG suffered a calamitous exit.
Mbappe is without doubt one of Europe's finest players and his future continues to dominate headlines as the final months of his contract wind down. Los Blancos have long been the frontrunners to seal his services on a free transfer this summer having been unsuccessful with bids of £137million and £145.5million last summer.
However, the president of the French Football Association claims Mbappe should not leave the Parc des Princes for the Santiago Bernabeu if he would like to get his hands on the Ballon d'Or. Noel Le Graet made no secret of the fact he would like the player to remain in Ligue 1 as he advised him against the transfer, telling Ouest-France : "I want Kylian to stay in Paris.
"For French football, it's better to have one of the best players in the world, if not the best, in this league. He has more chances of winning the Ballon d'Or at PSG than if he leaves. When you change club, you always have to get used to a new environment. PSG are going through a poor patch, but they are still a great club."
La Liga has traditionally been viewed as one of the greatest of Europe's so-called top five leagues including the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1.
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But Le Graet declared there is no longer a gulf in quality between the French top-flight and its Spanish counterpart in further advice for Mbappe. "Is the Spanish league superior to ours? I'm not convinced," he added. "It will be a personal choice on his (Mbappe's) part. But as a president of the FFF, I prefer that he stays in France."
Ligue 1 has certainly increased its standing in recent years with PSG completing a world-record transfer for Neymar in 2017 and landing Lionel Messi in a spectacular coup last summer. However, defending champions Lille, like PSG, were eliminated from this season's Champions League, so there are no French clubs competing in the quarter-finals. In contrast, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid's hopes are still alive and they have been drawn against Chelsea and Manchester City respectively.
