Kylian Mbappe has confessed his start to life at Real Madrid could not have gone any worse.

After years of speculation, Mbappe finally joined Madrid in the summer on a free transfer after his Paris Saint-Germain contract expired but, despite a healthy return in front of goal, the Frenchman’s performances fell well short of expectations.

Many began to question whether Mbappe had actually made Madrid a worse side and the 26-year-old admitted he hit “rock bottom” in December when he missed two penalties in the space of a week.

Having now started to turn things around, Mbappe spoke openly about his struggles and admitted he could not have imagined just how poorly things would begin.

“A player always wants more, for me and for the team, so when you don’t do that, it’s normal it impacts you,” Mbappe told the press. “I knew this could happen and in the end, it was good because I changed my mentality and I was like, ‘I cannot play any worse. Things can only get better’.

“It was more a mental thing. I thought, ‘Now I have to do more’, quite simply. I thought I was fine physically and with the team but I needed to do more, I knew that. It was a moment when I said, ‘Come on, this is the time to change. You have not come to Madrid to play badly’.

“It wasn’t shyness. But you have to come to Real Madrid with humility, because it’s a team that has won everything and you can’t come with demands, ordering, ‘Pass me the ball’. No. Here you come with the utmost respect… And to work.”

Mbappe went on to confirm early claims that he was struggling to find space on the pitch in a forward line which also includes left-sided star Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.

“I thought a lot,” he said. “You can see it in the games. It was a time of adaptation and I thought too much: how to do this, whether to move in space, or whether to go to the left, to Vini’s area, or to Rodrygo’s, and when you think so much, you don’t play well.”

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