Teenage wonderkid Willem Geubbels wasted no time in declaring his intentions upon moving to AS Monaco from Lyon. At the press conference unveiling the €20m signing, Geubbels set his sights high comparing himself to Kylian Mbappe!
“It makes you want to do good things when you see what he did. I am not putting pressure on myself. I am very young too. It is easy to make the comparison. I can very well see myself following his footsteps and doing better.” Willem Geubbels
Doing better than Mbappe
Kylian Mbappe debuted for AS Monaco as a 16-year-old in the 2015-16 season. His debut season he played in 11 games and scored 1 goal. Mbappe’s second season for AS Monaco he played in 29 league games and scored 15 goals with 8 assists. Then a loan to Paris Saint-German in his third season brought tallies of 27 league games and 13 goals with 8 assists. At the ripe old age of 19, he starred in the World Cup for France scoring four goals including being the second youngest player to score in a World Cup final. The youngest to score in a World Cup final is Pele. His permanent move to Paris Saint-German was €180m.
In order to outdo Mbappe, Geubbels would need to be better than one of the most meteoric rises in football history. Going from 16-year-old debutante to 19-year-old World Cup start and 2nd highest transfer fee ever paid. Geubbels has set his sights astronomically high.
Style of play
Geubbels is a tall fast player who physically looks the part despite his young age. He is 185cm tall and weighs in at 72kg. His strengths are his pace and dribbling ability. He is fearless at going at players on the dribble.
Here are a couple of looks at Geubbels as a wide attacking player where his sheer pace can be utilized.
In the picture below you can see Geubbels making a run down the left with the ball on the centre forward’s foot.
Geubbels shows his pace as the centre forward plays him in behind the backline. Note the distance Geubbels covers in order to get on the end of the through ball.
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