Paris St Germain forward Kylian Mbappe is touring his father’s native Cameroon for the first time this week as doubts swirl over his future at the French club.
Excited fans gathered at the airport in the capital Yaounde, where the 24-year-old star touched down on Thursday for a three-day tour of the central African nation.
“It is an honour for me to be here, to be in the country of my origin, to be with my family and to see the people out there. They have shown me some love,” Mbappe said on Friday after meeting Cameroon’s Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute.
He was lined up for a sporty afternoon, with a basketball match against former NBA player Joakim Noah before hitting the pitch for a soccer game against Cameroon’s second-division team Vent d’Etoudi FC.
On Saturday, he will travel to the economic capital Douala and to the home village of his father Wilfried, a football coach who is also his agent.
The tour also includes visits to schools funded by Mbappe’s “Inspired by KM” charity, one of which specialises in teaching children with impaired hearing.
“We are pushing hard for a bright future in Cameroon,” he said, adding that he had more youth projects in the pipeline.
Mbappe, whose Algerian mother was a handball player, was born and raised in the northeastern suburbs of Paris.