Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe said on Monday that it is natural for people to consider him a potential Ballon d'Or winner this year after his World Cup exploits.
The France captain scored 10 goals at the tournament this summer to win the Golden Boot, with his country finishing fourth, and has netted 22 in the competition during his career, making him the World Cup's all-time top scorer.
Mbappe, 27, has not yet won the prestigious trophy given to the world's best player.
"I think that when you play for Real Madrid, which is the best club in the world, naturally people associate you with that kind of award, they associate you with collective awards, individual awards," Mbappe told reporters.
"A lot of people, when they see me in the street, talk to me about the Ballon d'Or, a lot of people talk about me as a possible Ballon d'Or winner...
"Of course I made a lot of history this summer in the most important competition in sport, but we'll see.
"I have the feeling that it's a good year for that, but there's still a long time to go and people are free to vote for whoever they think is the best player in the world."
Since joining Real Madrid in 2024, Mbappe has scored huge quantities of goals, but the club has failed to win a major trophy.
On Tuesday, the record 15-time European champions host Inter Milan in the Champions League in the first match of the league phase.
During Mbappe's first two years at Madrid, the team has appeared unbalanced, with too many star names, including the Frenchman and Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior, widely considered not to be contributing enough to the team effort - in contrast to Ousmane Dembele at Paris Saint-Germain and Raphinha at Barcelona.
"We have to improve," admitted Mbappe. "But I could play dumb and tell you that I score more goals than (Dembele and Raphinha), and that they need to score more goals to be like me.
"Everyone is different, but I want to do things intelligently and say that of course I have to improve and all that, but I don't like comparisons because I think I do a lot of things that others don't do."
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho recently said he would prefer if Mbappe scored fewer goals but also worked hard to help the team win titles.
Mbappe said he would accept lower numbers if it led to trophies, but noted they were not mutually exclusive.
"I'd take 30 goals with titles, yes, but... for me it's an absurd debate," said Mbappe.
"I always want to score goals and win titles... you don't have to choose, you can do both things."
