Mbappé speaks with no red lines: Real Madrid secrets and his stance on Vinícius, Yamal and Mourinho

Yes, absolutely. I was waiting for the best club in the world, and to receive a lot of enthusiasm and love from Real Madrid's fans all around the world.

When I arrived here I already had a certain status, but when you become a Real Madrid player you move to another level, a higher level. I believe that if you want to become part of football history, you have to go through Real Madrid.

I found more calm. In France I missed this calm to a greater degree. I wanted to learn a new culture and to adapt quickly to the Spanish culture.

I still have some time ahead of me, of course, but I feel that I am better in Spain every day. I have not felt for even a moment that I am not happy here, except at the start when I did not have a home. When you do not have a home, you feel something strange, because you always want to return to your house and stay with your family. And once I had my home, I was always happy in Madrid and in Spain.

Yes, 100%. It was not even 1% less than I expected. Playing at the Santiago Bernabéu every week is a great privilege, and getting all this support from the fans is wonderful. I found something in Spain that I did not expect, as I received support from all over the country.

I love living here very much. This was the first time I have lived outside my country, and it was an important moment in my life, and I am very happy that I made this decision. Playing at the Bernabéu is always exciting because of its legendary status and history. Every match represents a new opportunity.

He is the person who brought me here. We stayed in touch throughout the ten years before my arrival. He always showed affection and understanding in every decision I made, whether those decisions were positive or negative for Real Madrid. He always used to tell me that I would one day play for Real Madrid, and here I am, and I am very happy. So I must thank him for everything he has done and continues to do for me. He is the best club president in the world.

Honestly, nobody needed to convince me to join Real Madrid. I always wanted to come, but the move just wasn't possible earlier. Football throws up moments and decisions that are out of your hands.

Timing is everything, and you have to wait until the move feels right. Everyone close to me knew I'd want to play for Real Madrid at some point. My desire to come was never in doubt. Sometimes it simply isn't possible, though, and you can't fight that. You have to accept it. There's disappointment, of course, but a footballer's life is about looking forward, not back.

No one had to talk me into signing for Real Madrid, not even Florentino Perez, for all his standing. My mind was made up.

The four coaches are important figures in football. It has always been a privilege to be part of the careers of these four. I learned from all of them because each one has a completely different way of seeing football. They are all winners in their careers, and you always learn from them.

But it is true that it is different with Mourinho. He is one of the most intelligent people I have seen in my life. He is a leader. I knew that before he arrived, but when you see him every day, you realise he is an exceptional person and a legendary coach who left his mark on his era and will continue to do so with us, certainly.

No, he didn't set a number for me, he just asked me to score goals. I don't set myself limits or a specific target for goals, because you don't know what will happen during the season, and setting a certain number of goals means putting limits on yourself, and I don't want that.

If I score a lot of goals I'll be very happy, and if I score fewer I'll also be happy, but I work in every match to help my team and I focus on every moment.

That is their opinion. Over the years, and with the experience I have gained, I have learned that everyone has their own opinion about football, and that must be accepted. Sometimes they share the same vision you have, and sometimes it is different. There is no single way to win in football, there are millions of ways, and so I am always open to listening.
There are people who are only looking to provoke or to hurt, but I am always open to talking with anyone who wants to discuss football based on a clear idea and a specific vision, whether they see it one way or another. And you can also learn from that.

Perhaps that will be the result of a good year, but it does not depend on me.

My aim is always to help my team-mates, to give my utmost, and to convince the people who vote. In the end, these are people like you, who vote. My job is limited to convincing the voters through football.

This is not my concern, because I do not think about what I can do to win it. The most important thing for me is that the Ballon d'Or returns to Real Madrid, because it is the best team in the world. It must return to the Bernabéu and to the fans of Real Madrid, and return to all these people to give them happiness.

These people deserve it more than anyone else. When you are a player at Real Madrid, you have to compete for all the prizes. The Ballon d'Or is a prize, and I will fight to try to bring it back to Real Madrid. There are many players who have succeeded in bringing it here, and I want to be one of them.

This is part of building the wins and the collective titles that will come in the second half of the season.

We can't sleep for six months and then say we want to win everything. Football doesn't work that way, and it isn't that easy.

That is why we are now heavily focused with the coach, the club and the system we have in place. We are very focused on what we must do, but we have to prove it on the pitch, as is always the case.

We must be good, united, and work towards a common goal, which is success and glory. Are you friends with everyone at the newspaper "AS"? This has become more prominent with the new generation of fans, because social media puts everything in the spotlight.

The talk starts if one of them doesn't shake hands with the other, or someone doesn't smile. But this is normal. We know that things are this way, and we try to do our best so that untrue things don't emerge. The most important thing is Real Madrid.

They are very different. On the pitch they do completely different things. There are aspects of the game where I am better with Jude, and others with Vini or Guler or Brahim or Diomande or Espinho.

Espi will score a lot of goals this season, he has a special relationship with the goal.

Cristiano, Zidane, Ronaldo. Bring them back and you'd see it in a heartbeat: quality never fades.

Icons of Real Madrid, all of them. They gave the club so much, and they still send its fans into raptures.

They won, and in football when you win you are right.

I think we got the game plan wrong from the start, and then when you face a team that likes to keep the ball and dominate possession, and you are a goal behind, it becomes even more difficult.

It was not a good day for us, and in the World Cup there is no two-legged tie like in the Champions League.

We did not produce the performance we should have produced, it is as simple as that. And I think it was an opportunity for us, but we will work to get other opportunities.

I don't wait for three or four matches, one match is enough for me. The match in which I don't score is difficult, but I love this feeling, because a player who is used to scoring constantly, when he doesn't score in two matches, people notice it and talk about it.

This gives you some anger, so you go into the next match with more determination to be decisive. It hasn't happened often in my career that I have gone through several consecutive matches without scoring. People cheer you on, and if you handle it well, it gives you more determination, and everything can return to normal.

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No, because if it were easy everyone would score goals, and not everyone scores, and that is not a bad thing. Everyone has their role on the pitch. Not everyone scores, and not everyone passes well or presses.

For me, scoring goals is the hardest thing, but football is not easy in any position.

Take Real Madrid, the pinnacle of world football. Everyone here, on and off the pitch, is among the elite in their profession, and it is not easy.

He is a very talented player, and I have a feeling he will have a great career. I wish him, his family, and everyone around him all the best.

He is at a stage of his career where we are building the relationship between the players and the group, and Diomande is part of that at the moment. Since he arrived at Valdebebas, we saw from day one that he has the quality.

People talk a lot during matches about the 140 million figure and things of that sort.

He is a young player, 19 years old, but the quality is there. We can see it, and he has already proven that he has outstanding abilities.

What we are trying to do is protect him, him and all the players in the squad, because in the end we will need everyone. The season is very long, and if we want to compete for all the titles, we cannot rely on just 11 players.

It is a match we always want to play, one that carries a lot of tension. We know the derby means a great deal to the Real Madrid fans and to us as well. This is the kind of match you long to play, and in this case away from home.

I really love playing away from the Bernabeu.

That is where players' character shows, and it is important to have character in matches like these.

We want to continue the winning run, with sacrifice, commitment and character.

Good for them, I don't like talking about other teams because I'm not with them and I don't know what they're doing.

They've won some matches, but the season is still in its early stages.

The message is ambition and demanding more. This is Real Madrid, and I understand that. As with everything, there is context.

Sometimes when we win, they see that the match was difficult, and sometimes it isn't. We need the Bernabéu now, because it is the best stadium in the world, and we have the best fans in the world, and when the fans are with us we become much stronger.

I also understand the scale of the demands. We didn't win anything last season, and the fans are already bored of that, and there is part of it that I understand is natural.

But they also have to understand that if we want to win titles, we won't do it without them. With all the quality and all the commitment, we won't win without them. What I'm asking is that we move together, hand in hand. That way we will be much stronger.

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