Kylian Mbappé has expressed his delight at winning his first European Golden Boot as a Real Madrid player, but dismissed suggestions he is looking to try and eclipse Cristiano Ronaldo’s statistics and legacy at the club.
After 31 goals in 34 games across his first season in La Liga, Mbappé was this week presented with the European Golden Boot to mark his status as the top goalscorer in Europe across the 2024–25 season on a scale which also measures the difficulty of the league in which those goals were scored.
It was the first such honor of Mbappé’s career and the Frenchman is looking to add as many of these trophies to his cabinet as possible. However, catching up to Ronaldo, who won three of his four European Golden Boots with Madrid, is not a specific part of his mission.
“Everyone knows that Cristiano is the benchmark in Madrid, number one,” Mbappé told when asked if he plans to exceed Ronaldo’s statistics. “I’ve been here for a year and a half, and he was here for nine years. I can’t compare myself to what he did; my path is different.
“I want to forge my own path, but being mentioned alongside Cristiano is already an honor. But I’m only focused on forging my own path, helping the team, and winning every title possible.
“Since I was a child, I’ve always dreamed of scoring goals. Every kid who starts playing football dreams of scoring, of doing it many times. In the end, it’s a very important award and it makes me very happy, but everyone knows that team achievements are the most important.
“I hope to win another Golden Boot in the future, but above all, I hope we win the league. If we’re talking about why I won the Golden Boot thanks to my goals in the league, my goal this year is to continue in the same vein with the team. If we win the league and I win another Golden Boot, I’ll be even happier than I am now.”
