Kylian Mbappe breaks 65-year French scoring record

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Kylian Mbappe breaks 65-year French scoring record

Kylian Mbappe is paid around £14m a year to wear the Nike boots which covered the right foot he used to sweep in his 54th goal of the 2022/23 season - a record for any Frenchman in a single campaign.

Just Fontaine was wearing a pair of borrowed boots when he netted three of his 53 goals to set the previous benchmark in 1957/58.

It has taken 65 years for Fontaine's single-season tally to be bettered, with the likes of Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane or Thierry Henry all falling short of the Moroccan-born striker.

Mbappe shares Fontaine's fleetness of foot - whatever may be covering it - and is the same age as his predecessor when he hit his peak (24) but boasts a completely contrasting profile.

Fontaine was forced to change his footwear during the 1958 World Cup partly because he wasn't expecting to play a significant role in the tournament. In the training camp ahead of the games in Sweden, Fontaine admitted: "I am our centre-forward only till [Raymond] Kopa arrives." The then Reims striker was afforded a start in the opening game against Paraguay because Rene Bliard picked up an injury.

By comparison, Mbappe was made captain of France in March and holds such a crushing authority at his club that he has felt compelled to clarify that PSG is not Kylian Saint-Germain.