Enrique in awe of Ethan Mbappé potential, wish he had three Kylian in PSG

Paris Saint-Germain has slowly integrated Ethan Mbappé into the first-team squad. The 17-year-old midfielder has trained with the senior team and has been on the bench.

It might be only a matter of time before the teenager sees the field this 2023-24 season. With the growing presence of Mbappé, a reporter asked manager Luis Enrique about the youngster’s development.

While the teenager might have the label of being Kylian Mbappé’s little brother, Enrique believes that the youngster could soon be making a name for himself with the French giants.

“The future will tell, but I must say that Ethan is the future of the club,” Enrique said. “He is a player who is not yet ready physically. He trains with us. No one can say that he is 17 years old; he is a left-handed midfielder with very great qualities and a great vision of the game.

“[Mbappé] has a very good profile. He is very intelligent when he plays with others. He’s a player I like, and I’m sure he’ll make an appearance with the first team soon.

PSG could be taking the Warren Zaïre-Emery approach with Mbappé. For those who need a reminder, the Frenchman made appearances here and there to get his feet wet with playing at the professional level.

Now, under Enrique, Zaïre-Emery has taken off to become a vital player in the midfield for PSG and even earned a call-up to the French national team’s senior squad. The French giants likely hope that the younger Mbappé can follow that roadmap.

Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe has scored 14 goals in 12 Ligue 1 games for Paris St Germain this season, and his manager would love to have three strikers of that standard, Luis Enrique said.

Mbappe has also scored three goals in the Champions League, but there is a big gap between the next highest-scorers at the club, Achraf Hakimi and Randal Kolo Muani, who both have four goals in all competitions.

It is a very different situation to last season when Lionel Messi scored 21 goals and Neymar netted 18 but both have since left PSG.

 “I'd love to have three strikers like Mbappe who score 17 goals each, but it's not possible,” Luis Enrique told reporters.

“Last year, there were three world stars and they shared the goals more. There are a lot of players who have scored. We don't just depend on Kylian... others have scored.”

PSG have scored eight goals in their last two league matches, but just two in their last two Champions League games.