Kylian Mbappe was in the grandstand at Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Sunday night when his younger brother Ethan scored a late equaliser for Lille in their match against PSG, and his response went viral.
Last summer, as his bigger brother moved to Real Madrid, the highly regarded Ethan Mbappe bid farewell to Luis Enrique and Paris Saint-Germain.
Unlike his brother, the 18-year-old midfielder stayed in France, signing a three-year contract with Ligue 1 club Lille. “I had to create my own path, my own story,” he stated at his unveiling, according to GFFN.
“At PSG, I would have remained in my brother’s shadow.” I believe LOSC is the appropriate solution for that.”
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Ethan, who made his league debut for PSG at the age of 16, coming on as a late substitute in a 3-1 victory over Metz, also discussed the difficulty of bearing Mbappe’s name at Les Parisiens.
“It’s complicated at the beginning because you always have to be good, people will criticise you and expect you to be like your brother,” he further explained.
“When this is not the case. It’s a challenging name to live up to, yet I pull it off brilliantly. I am trying to write my tale.”
Ethan has impressed since joining Bruno Genesio’s side, and despite missing out on a Champions League match against his brother last year due to injury, the midfielder made amends on Sunday night.
After coming off the bench against previous club PSG, he scored an excellent 85th-minute equaliser, cutting in on his left foot and beating goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier with a solid effort from just inside the area.
Moments later, he pointed to his family, who were watching from the grandstand, and cameras caught Kylian Mbappe’s thrilled reaction as Ethan recreated his brother’s legendary celebration.
How Kylian Mbappe Reacted to His Brother’s Move
A few months after Ethan’s move to Lille, Kylian stated that he would have been ready to stay in Paris if it meant his brother received a new contract at the Parc des Princes.
“It’s the thing that affected me the most,” Kylian told Canal+ in December. “He [Ethan] did not ask for anything. His real Madrid was PSG. PSG was what Real meant to me as a childhood dream.
“At one point, I even told him, ‘If you want me to, I’ll extend [my contract], you can stay, and we’ll stay here.’ I would have given up my dream of moving to Madrid to stay with him.
“Ethan informed me: ‘I don’t want to stay here. What they did to you and to me is not normal.’ If he had told me, ‘Kylian, it’s what I want,’ I would have abandoned my goal of Madrid and stayed with him.”
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