Thierry Henry has sparked division among fans online after giving his opinion on where Kylian Mbappe ranks among some of the greats to have played for Paris Saint-Germain, with some supporters even branding his take as ’embarrassing’.
It was a sour night at the Parc des Princes for the left winger, who, in what is set to be his final Champions League match for PSG, suffered a 1-0 defeat (2-0 aggregate) by Borussia Dortmund – extinguishing his hopes of reaching the final and claiming a Champions League medal with his hometown club.
Mbappe has so often dragged his side through games, and when a five star performance was most needed, the France World Cup winner could not deliver the goods, notably hitting the bar in the second half. The 25-year-old was brutally handed a two out of 10 rating by French outlet L’Equipe for his performance.
While many of the world’s greatest stars are often judged by how many titles they have won, ex-Arsenal star Henry was asked by Kate Abdo on CBS Sports where Mbappe ranks among some of the greatest players to wear the PSG shirt. The France legend replied: ‘Ah it’s not even a discussion.’
Abdo questioned again: ‘Number one? The greatest ever player to play for PSG?’
‘Yeah,’ Henry said. ‘For me yeah.’ He added: ‘That’s my opinion obviously.’
‘But for me Kylian Mbappe the impact that he has had all over the world he will go down as the best players for Paris Saint-Germain.’
He later added: ‘For me he [Mbappe] will go down as the best. People might say Andrea Pirlo, George Weah, some people might say other players. But for me he [Mbappe] was the best at Paris Saint-Germain.’
But some fans have disagreed with Henry’s opinion, noting other legendary footballers to have played for the club, including the likes of Neymar and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
One fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter): ‘What an embarrassing take rooted in the most obvious bias!’
Some even claimed that Henry had shown a lack of respect to Ibrahimovic, who scored 156 goals across 180 appearances in all competitions for the Parisian club.
‘Neymar and Zlatan are clear tbh,’ one wrote. Another added: ‘I’m sorry, but it’s Zlatan.’
Another said: ‘Nah this is actually disgusting. He’s making excuses by saying “he’s not a No 9” when he literally played on the left all the way through since Ramos came off. Only Jude Bellingham has PR as crazy as this.’
One fan wrote: ‘Hmm, love Henry, but can’t help but feel Zlatan or Ronaldinho would be above Mbappe.’
Mail Sport understands that Real Madrid have been given the green light to sign Mbappe, ending a long running transfer saga between himself and PSG over whether he would sign a new contract.
Henry also claimed that Mbappe had a difficult game playing centrally in the No 9 position, a role that he could be utilised in should he move to Madrid, with Carlo Ancelotti already having a raft of world class wingers including Vinicius Jnr and Rodrygo.
Henry added: ‘But the big man [Mbappe] has played really well all his career for Paris Saint-Germain. So I’m not going to judge him on not winning the Champions League with Paris.’
After Tuesday’s game, Mbappe was also seen storming out of a press conference when he was asked by a journalist if he would support Madrid against Bayern Munich – with the pair set to play on Wednesday night in the second Champions League semi-final.
The France captain was clearly not in the mood to talk, with his seven seasons at the Parc des Princes set to end without winning a coveted Champions League title.
