Mbappe Reigns Supreme: French Star Secures Fifth Player of the Year Title

As his seven-season tenure with Paris Saint-Germain draws to a conclusion, Kylian Mbappe was voted the player of the year in France on Monday at an awards event in Paris. After a season in which he scored 44 goals for PSG in all competitions, Mbappe, 25, won the UNFP (French players' union) Trophies gala for the fifth consecutive year as the best player in Ligue 1. The captain of France said last week that he will be leaving PSG when his contract ends at the conclusion of the current season. Real Madrid is anticipated to be his next stop.

Mbappe said :

"It is a page that is turning, a chapter of my life that is going to close," Mbappe said.

"Ligue 1 will always have an important place in my life. It is the only league I have known in my career up to now.

"I have always tried to be an honourable representative of this league," he added.

"I will miss it for sure. It is a part of my life that is coming to an end. What is coming next is very exciting but that is something else."

On Sunday, Mbappe made his PSG debut at home, but the champions were shocked to lose 3-1 to Toulouse.

With the goal, he now has 27 goals for the Ligue 1 season, eight more than the next greatest scorer, Canadian striker Jonathan David of Lille.

The season is still open; Mbappe's PSG has two more Ligue 1 matches to go this week before facing Lyon in the French Cup final on May 25.

Marie-Jose Perec, the former French 200- and 400-meter Olympic champion, presented Mbappe with the prize after he defeated the other contenders chosen by his teammates.

Along with Pierre Lees-Melou of Brest, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Marseille, and Edon Zhegrova of Lille, his PSG colleague Ousmane Dembele had also been in the running.

The other accolades, which went to Warren Zaire-Emery, a teenage midfielder, as young player of the season and Gianluigi Donnarumma as best goalkeeper, showed how dominant PSG was at home.

With one game remaining, Brest is assured to finish at least fifth, which, at worst, means a Europa League spot. Eric Roy was awarded coach of the year after leading the tiny Brittany club to European qualifying for the first time in their history.