Cristiano Ronaldo sends Real Madrid warning over Kylian Mbappe | OneFootball

Cristiano Ronaldo has predicted big things for Kylian Mbappe at Real Madrid, following the Frenchman's burst into life so far in 2025, but has warned his former employers that he must be taught how to play as a striker.

Mbappe was widely criticised in his early months with Madrid, the biggest transfer of recent times and arguably the best goalscorer in world football at the time of the switch from Paris Saint-Germain.

The former teen prodigy admitted a penalty miss against Athletic Club in early December was a rock bottom moment for him, since which his form has dramatically improved. Mbappe scored five times in three La Liga games in January and was named the competition's player of the month.

Speaking to El Chiringuito, Ronaldo compared Mbappe's start to life in the Spanish capital to his own and pointed out that the 26-year-old must be afforded time to grow into his role up front - a role unfamiliar to him after spending the majority of his career at PSG cutting in from the left flank.

"The striker position makes it a bit difficult for Mbappe, because he doesn't know how to play as a striker in my opinion...not that he doesn't know, [but] it's not his position," Ronaldo said.

"If I were at Real Madrid, I would teach him to play as a 'nine'. Because I wasn't a striker. I got used to playing as a striker. I played on the wing and people forget."

Ronaldo also joked that his feelings for Mbappe extend beyond hearing that the player idolising him as a youngster.

"I love him very much, and not only because of the story he had as a young man that he loved Cristiano Ronaldo very much and he was his idol. But I really see him as a [star] and he is going to give Real Madrid a lot of joy."