Story By: Juan Mayes, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport

Cristiano Ronaldo has passed the torch to Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe saying he “is the future and the present. He is a fantastic player”.

Juventus forward Ronaldo, 35, made the comments during a promotional event for popular sports brand ‘Nike’ during a casual chat with a young boy.

During the interview, the boy praised Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) forward Mbappe, 21, which prompted Ronaldo to seemingly pass the torch to the young superstar.

Ronaldo said: “Yeah, you know, Mbappe is the future and the present. He is a fantastic player, very fast and he will be the future.”

The praise goes both ways as the World Cup champion spoke with Italian newspaper ‘La Gazzetta Dello Sport’ last month and said: “It is a little late for me to model my career on Messi.

“I would have had to stay at Monaco. Without taking anything away from Messi, I definitely have to be inspired by Cristiano’s career right now.”

When speaking about his idols growing up, Mbappe said: “If you are French, obviously you grow up with Zidane as an idol.

“Then another was Cristiano Ronaldo with whom I have had the luck to play as a rival and on the national team.”

Ronaldo and Mbappe are having successful seasons as both have scored 24 goals in 29 appearances.

Juventus are set to play Olympique Lyonnais on Wednesday 26th February in a ‘Champions League Round of 16’ match.

PSG recently suffered a 2-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday 18th February forcing them to secure a victory in their next match to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals.

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