Paris Saint-Germain may have guessed wrong when they picked the Mbappe brother who would be the first to return and haunt them.
PSG’s first meeting with Kylian since his departure ended 4-0 at the Club World Cup – but Ethan was a timely reminder that there have always been two stars in the family.
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The latter spent much of the time his older brother played in Ligue 1 as a supporter from the stands.
However, there was a role reversal before the international break as Kylian watched Ethan Mbappe score for Lille against PSG.
The 18-year-old only furthered the inevitable comparisons between the two by mimicking his brother’s celebration with his arms folded in homage.
It was the most significant moment in the midfielder’s young history as he continues to step out of his famous sibling’s shadow.
Read more about the Mbappe’s
Follow in the footsteps of Kylian Mbappé
The Mbappe brothers’ stories – eight years apart – have been linked since their time as players for local club Bondy.
Both joined PSG in 2017, with Ethan making his senior debut in a friendly in December 2022, the same month Kylian reached the World Cup final.
His official senior debut came twelve months later, aged just 16, in PSG’s 3-1 win against Metz, but it was one of only three league appearances he made.
Ethan eventually followed Kylian to the Parc des Princes when their contracts in the French capital expired in June 2024.
European football broadcaster Andy Brassell has since revealed that it was actually not what the Mbappe family had intended.
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“Kylian clearly said, ‘Look, his future is separate from mine. Whatever happens to me shouldn’t affect my brother,’ but it was clear that it was. There’s no doubt about that.
“I think you can say down to the smallest detail that the two things have nothing to do with each other. We are separate. We have different careers and so on. But when it came to what happened to Kylian Mbappe, it was clear that it would affect his brother.
“There was no gap. And I think you felt that towards the end because it got so difficult.
“It wasn’t just about a star player leaving. It was about a star player leaving after an incredibly difficult last season in which he was counted among the players, the undesirables, at the start of the season.”
“They wouldn’t even let him train with the first team at the start of his final season. And he had to offer, as a sort of peace offering, to give back some bonus money to get back into the squad.
“Then Luis Enrique had to drop him sporadically towards the end of last season as well. And that put Ethan in a really, really difficult position.”
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Ethan Mbappe vs Kylian Mbappe
The former had no shortage of admirers when he left PSG: Borussia Dortmund, Ajax and even Queen’s Park Rangers were interested.
“Well, I think if we separate the two, they’re obviously very different types of players,” Brassell added.
“Ethan is a midfielder who tends to play deep, although he obviously has a certain level of finishing about him.
“But he’s someone who doesn’t really need any favors, I don’t think. He was someone who looked good enough to be part of the PSG squad.
“I’m not necessarily saying he’s a starter and especially given the midfield they have now, I think it was definitely the right thing for them to leave him behind and for him to move on from them.
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| Ethan Mbappe [LOSC Lille] | Kylian Mbappe [Real Madrid] |
| Age: 18 | Age: 26 |
| Height: 1.80 m | Height: 1.78 m |
| Preferred foot: Left | Preferred foot: Right |
| Position: Central midfield | Position: center forward |
| Secondary Position: Defensive Midfield | Second position: left winger |
| Market value: €5 million | Market value: €180 million |
| Career games: 83 | Career games: 452 |
“I think if you look at his attitude towards football, it’s quite interesting. There was a documentary about Kylian Mbappe on French television recently. And Ethan said the difference, apart from the fact that there’s an eight-year age gap between them, is that Kylian was obsessed with football since he was a toddler. And when he was about four or five years old, he immediately focused on becoming a professional.”
“Whereas when you hear Ethan Mbappe talk about it, he says, ‘Well, it’s just a bit of fun. I just wanted to play because my dad and my brother played and I just thought it would be fun.’
“It wasn’t until much later that he thought it was a possibility that he would turn pro. So it was a completely different attitude and perspective.”
“I feel like the whole saga really shook him up because he felt like he was going his own way.
“Suddenly what touched Kylian, because it was so seismic, enveloped him too.
“Then he comes to Lille, which is a good move. He’s only an hour away from Paris. It’s a good club, a serious club.”
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Overcoming injuries in Lille
Ethan Mbappe got his first taste of Champions League football at his new club, but his first season was marred by a series of injuries.
A torn hamstring, knee injury and adductor pain were among the seven fitness problems that sidelined him for over 300 days in 2024/25.
Most disappointingly, it denied him the opportunity to face his brother Kylian in a Champions League game last September.
Still, his second season got off to a perfect start – he scored the winner against Toulouse before scoring against PSG.
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Brassell continued: “So for him to come in and get his first little try in the first team this season, score the winner in stoppage time and then come and score that late goal against PSG.”
“Obviously it’s absolutely meaningful, especially because he’s celebrating his brother’s celebration.
“I don’t think he did it mainly to hate PSG, to rub it in their faces or to annoy them. When he scored his last goal, the winner against Toulouse, he did exactly the same thing. And he said it was a little tribute to his brother, who really supports him.
“He said when he scored the winning goal against Toulouse, he went back to the dressing room and his phone beeped. And the first message he got was from Kylian, who said like a minute after the end of the game: Yes, he did it, great goal. I mean, he always really supports his little brother.”
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Get Kylian’s support
Predictably, the cameras flashed straight to the elder Mbappé as Ethan scored the late equalizer against his former club.
Brassell argued: “It’s a very modern thing for people to assume: ‘Well, it’s just the Mbappé brothers rubbing PSG’s noses.’
“Well, I tend to think it’s a young man who is happy to be playing football again, happy to score a big goal in a big game.
“What a finish that was by the way, for someone who isn’t normally a striker, the two goals he scored were finishes that big brother would have been proud of this season.”
“I don’t understand why it’s so hard for people to understand that they would be happy and Kylian would be happy for him.
“I don’t understand why he should hide that. Of course he’s happy that his brother scores a big goal in a big game.”
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“Last week there was something on a Spanish TV show showing Kylian Mbappe getting into an elevator with a few other Real Madrid players, then he saw the camera and you could see his face harden.
“Kind of like the Kanye West meme when he’s standing courtside at a Golden State Warriors game and his face changes as he turns the camera on him.
“But that’s fine, it’s just part of the modern world, isn’t it? Especially when you see the fluctuating popularity and unpopularity of Kylian Mbappe in France in the last few years and the public perception of him and how that has really bottomed out in the last few years.”
“I think he would be somewhat aware of where he is; that’s not even the least bit surprising.”
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Ethan Mbappe transfer
Lille’s involvement in the Europa League this season means a reunion with Kylian’s Real Madrid is out of the question.
But that could be just what Ethan needs as he continues to write his own story, free from injury and the pitfalls of the Mbappe name.
“At least the way he tells it, I don’t think he ever had a grand plan,” Brassell concluded. “He never had a big plan to become this absolute football giant.
“Kylian Mbappe definitely imagined that he would win the World Cup, the Champions League, the Ballon d’Or and all that other stuff. Whereas with Ethan, I think it makes a lot more sense to take shorter steps. And I think it really worked out.”
“If you think that he would have gone abroad and he is still young, still a teenager of course, then you think it would have been really hard for him, his first time outside France, injured all the time.
“It would have been really difficult. Even though his family is still around him, it’s certainly been very helpful and helped him get back to that point where he’s competitive and part of a squad, a really good club that could achieve a lot this season.”