Paul Pogba has hailed Kylian Mbappe as the “best striker of his generation”.<\/p>\n
Mbappe is preparing to lead France out at the World Cup, but his form has come into question in the build-up to the tournament, having failed to score in both their friendlies this month.<\/p>\n
Other doubts have stemmed from his performances for Real Madrid in 2025-26, with Los Blancos failing to win any trophies.<\/p>\n
However, despite an injury-plagued second half to the season, Mbappe racked up 42 goals in all competitions (after the Club World Cup), more than any other LaLiga player.<\/p>\n
He averaged a goal every 86.2 minutes, while his 36.4 expected goals (xG) and 209 shots were also more than any other player to feature in the Spanish top-flight.<\/p>\n
And Pogba could not understand where the criticism of Mbappe has come from.<\/p>\n
“Can you imagine me [saying] that he had a little difficult season, and this difficult season would be the best season ever for almost all the strikers,” Pogba said.<\/p>\n
“That’s how good he is.<\/p>\n
“For him to score 40 goals a year is a difficult season, so I don’t know. I’m just saying, for me, it’s not a bad season!<\/p>\n
“He’s the best striker of his generation. Period.”<\/p>\n
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Another player who has particularly impressed Pogba is Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise, who played a starring role in their Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal success.<\/p>\n
Olise, who scored his first senior hat-trick in France’s 3-1 win over Northern Ireland on Monday, ended the Bundesliga season with 34 goal involvements (15 goals, 19 assists), a new record for a winger since detailed Opta data collection began in the German top-flight in 2004-05.<\/p>\n
Only team-mate Harry Kane (41) directly contributed to more Bundesliga goals than Olise, who also scored five goals and provided seven assists in 13 Champions League games.<\/p>\n
“He’s a player I’ve watched the most this year. I enjoy the way he plays, how smart he is,” Pogba said of Olise.<\/p>\n
“He’s been one of the best players this season, if not the best. He plays simple, but simple is difficult.<\/p>\n
“He does simple things at the right time \u2013 when to pass the ball, when to dribble, when to shoot. It makes him unpredictable.”<\/p>\n
Ousmane Dembele and Rayan Cherki are also expected to light up the World Cup for France\u00a0after impressive individual campaigns, with the former winning Ligue 1 and the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain, while Cherki lifted two trophies with Manchester City.<\/p>\n
“You don’t expect \u2013 they know what to do. He was there for the World Cup in 2018,” Pogba said when asked about Dembele.<\/p>\n
“He has won it before; he has experience, like Kylian. He’s part of the old guys now! He knows what to do; he’s definitely a big help for France.”<\/p>\n
On Cherki, he added: “Big talent, big guy \u2013 I love his football; it’s like street football.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n