Arguably the best player in the world has clearly got West Ham on his mind after recent comments.

Obviously football is much more than stats however, when you look at it purely from a goals and assists perspective, Kylian Mbappe is on track to have more goal involvements than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

What’s holding him back from being put in that bracket is the fact he’s spent his whole career to date in France. It will be interesting to see how this changes now he’s secured his move to Real Madrid.

For now though, his focus will be fully on the French national team and winning the Euros. Despite playing with some world-class players, it’s a West Ham man that’s impressed the forward.

Alphonse Areola is someone who will be able to give Mbappe a lot of advice considering he once went from PSG to Real Madrid. Not only is the keeper vital to West Ham, but he’s also vital to the national team the striker has stated

“He is coming off a superb season at West Ham,” Mbappe explained. “He is one of the oldest who knows the national team, better than most of us. He is so important, especially for us forwards who play with him the most in training.”

“Be careful though,” he warned, “he has his own big personality! He is a nice person, but far from weak.”

It’s big praise for the Hammers shot-stopper but he will have his work cut out for him if he is to get ahead of Maignan. Even then, his role clearly goes much further than what happens on the pitch.