The French forward is regarded as one of the best players in world football but admits that he hasn't always found the limelight easy to handle after bursting onto the scene as a teenager.

Quizzed on life as a celebrity, Mbappé - who became a World Cup winner with France at the age of 19 in 2018 - told Vanity Fair magazine: "I'll try to be positive.

"It's cool. Of course, it's hard, because you have this feeling of no longer belonging to yourself – of belonging to everyone. But at the same time, it's a life we chose. Maybe not to this degree, but we chose it nonetheless. We signed up for this.

"And it's difficult to focus on the negative when millions and millions and millions of people express their gratitude, their recognition, and their love. So I find it a little ungrateful to complain."

The Real Madrid star added: "I haven't always handled this situation extremely well, because I became famous very young.

"And so I didn't have the wisdom, the open-mindedness, or the empathy to sometimes put myself in people's shoes and understand that sometimes they'll only ever see me once – they'll never see me again except on TV. So I try to have a little more empathy now, even if sometimes people push the limits."

Mbappé spoke out against France's right-wing National Rally political party during Euro 2024 and says footballers aren't "disconnected" from the world around them despite being handsomely paid for their efforts on the pitch.

The France captain said: "You can be a player, you can be an international star, but above all that, you are a citizen.

"We are not disconnected from the world. We are not disconnected from what happens in our country. People sometimes think that because you have money, because you're famous, that kind of problem doesn't affect you.

"But it affects me, because I know what it means, and what kind of consequences it can have for my country when those kinds of people take control. So we are citizens. We have the right to give our opinion like anyone else."