Ivorian football legend Didier Drogba has given his backing to the France skipper Kylian Mbappé, saying the 25-year-old will emerge a better player and person following a disappointing start to his career at Real Madrid.
“His adaptation from Paris Saint-Germain to Real Madrid isn’t the easiest,” Drogba told RFI.
“But I'd rather have a difficult adaptation in Madrid than find myself in a situation where everything's easier,” added the 46-year-old, who played 105 times for Côte d'Ivoire scoring a record 65 goals.
Mbappé moved to the Spanish giants in the summer after seven years and 15 trophies at PSG.
However he has failed to make the expected splash in La Liga and the Champions League since the Spanish season began on 15 August.
Recalling his own transfer in 2004 from Marseille to a Chelsea side backed by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, Drogba added: “I think Mbappé's going to learn a lot from this experience. I think he'll mature and that's going to benefit the France team, of course, and it's going to benefit him too.”
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Mbappé’s transition hasn’t been without controversy.
During the break from domestic matches for international games in October, Swedish media linked him to the rape of a woman in a Stockholm hotel.
He denied the allegation and spoke publicly about it for the first time in an interview with broadcaster Canal + last Sunday.
“These are things that just happen, that you don't see coming,” Mbappé told journalist Mouloud Achour. “I haven’t received a summons from the Swedish justice system but if I do, I will of course go there.”
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On Thursday, Swedish authorities announced the case had been closed due to insufficient evidence.
Mbappé was on the scoresheet last Saturday in Madrid's 3-0 win at Girona and he struck his side's opener in Tuesday night's Champions League game at Atalanta before succumbing to a thigh injury that is expected to keep him on the sidelines for a fortnight.
Madrid's 3-2 victory in Italy took them to 20th place in the 36-team division in the group stages.
In the revised format of European football's most prestigious competition, the top eight sides progress automatically to the last-16 knockout stages while the following 16 teams feature in a two-leg play-off for the other eight slots.
“Kylian is going through a difficult period,” said Drogba. “But he wanted to be there in Madrid and he's ready for the challenge.
"The ups and downs are part of a player's career. It's like injuries, except these ones aren't physical. But it can help you become another player, even a stronger one.”
Humanitarian work
Since retiring from football in 2018, Drogba has taken up a post as vice-president of the NGO Peace and Sport and continued to campaign and fundraise for his own economic development charity, the Fondation Didier Drogba.
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“That’s why I’m based in Abidjan,” said Drogba. “I lived away from the foundation for 15 years and when there’s something like that which carries your name, you need to be there at home to fully understand what’s at stake and to have more of an impact.”
Drogba has also forged a career as a football analyst and the quick-witted presenter of the Ballon d’Or footballing awards in Paris.
During the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony last month, when the Manchester City player Rodri was announced as the male winner, Drogba stepped off the stage and went into the stalls to help the injured midfielder negotiate his way on to the podium with his crutches.
It was as instinctive as it was impressive. Drogba later urged the Spaniard to remain on stage to bask in the limelight. "It's your moment," he told the 28-year-old.
Chelsea icon
A national hero at home and still venerated in Marseille, Drogba will also be forever feted in the royal blue corner of west London for his rampaging displays in the Chelsea teams that destroyed the Premier League-winning duopoly of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United and Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal.
In the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich, Drogba scored the last-minute equaliser that took the game into extra time and converted the final penalty in the shoot-out which furnished Chelsea with their first European Cup in their 107-year history.
More than a decade on from such delirium at the Allianz Arena in Munich for his sole English Premier League side, Drogba remains unabashed about his devotion to France's equivalent Ligue 1, and the football in a country where he turned out for Le Mans and Guingamp before heading south for Marseille.
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"Ligue 1 is one of the great European championships," he said. "It has to be recognised, endorsed and there must be a sense of pride about it.
"It is where I started out and where I made my name ... so obviously there's a special attachment. It's always a pride and an honour to talk about Ligue 1."
He added: "I left for Chelsea as the best player in the French championship. Florent Malouda joined me at Chelsea having been best player in Ligue 1 and Michael Essien too. So it's not a championship without talented players.
"It's true there isn't the same amount of money in France from TV broadcasting rights like in England or Spain, but the talent is there."
