Proof That Mbappe Has Been Copying Cristiano Ronaldo's Goal Celebrations For Years

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated world football for more than a decade. The two superstars have won 11 Ballon d'Ors between them, with only Luka Modric's triumph in 2018 disrupting their stronghold on the award. However, with both Messi and Ronaldo entering their 30s, it's time to start looking at which young superstars could follow in their footsteps. And immediately, one name springs to mind. Kylian Mbappe. The Frenchman is the second most expensive player of all time, has already won four league titles, one for Monaco and three for Paris Saint-Germain. He's also a World Cup winner, something that Ronaldo and Messi can't say. And while he hasn't claimed the Ballon d'Or yet, it seems Mbappe is already emulating his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo. Kylian Mbappe has made no effort to hide just how much he idolized Cristiano Ronaldo while growing up, and even has posters of the Portuguese superstar hanging on the wall of his childhood bedroom. The Frenchman has become a global sensation since his breakthrough at Monaco, and his stock is constantly on the rise. Over the years, there have been multiple comparisons between the two, with Arsene Wenger recently stating that Mbappe is the one player who can take over from Lionel Messi and Ronaldo. High praise indeed. He is a hero from my childhood and it was amazing to meet him when I visited Valdebebas, Mbappe said years ago. More recently, Mbappe admitted that it's already too late to emulate Messi's one-club career and will instead look to excel with a variety of clubs like Ronaldo. It's already too late for me to have a career like Messi, Mbappe told La Gazzetta dello Sport. Otherwise, I should have stayed at Monaco. So, logically and without wanting to take anything away from Messi, I have to be inspired by Ronaldo's career. Meanwhile, Ronaldo is well aware that Mbappe is the future of football. Mbappe is the future and the present, Ronaldo said in a promotional video shared by Marca. He's a fantastic player, very fast and he will be the future. And now, Twitter user at TheFergusonCode posted a tweet that contained several side-by-side images of Ronaldo and Mbappe doing identical goal celebrations. Mbappe is known for his crossed-arm celebrations but he has been mixing things up over the years and unbeknown to us, he's been copying Ronaldo's celebrations from his time at Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. And fans were quick to point out just how striking the similarities are. Mbappe has been linked with a 2021 summer move to Real Madrid and this, no doubt, will get their fans hyped up about a potential move. If this wasn't enough, in 2018, the then 19-year-old ditched the number 29 shirt he wore for his first season with the club and took a new number, 7, for the 2018-19 campaign. I thought for a long time that the number was not important, it was only on the pitch that it mattered. But it is an indication of your ambitions, the player you want to be," he told the club's website.