Riolo is adamant that Mbappe won't reach his full potential until he's back in his favoured position. He told After Foot on RMC: 'His place is not as a number 9. If Vinicius leaves at the end of the season, okay. But for two years, Mbappé has been wasting himself in a role that's not his.'

While acknowledging Mbappe's goal-scoring prowess, Riolo believes it's masking a real waste: 'From the moment you're up front, it's normal to score. But how long will he waste himself in this position?'

'Either he finds a real physique - and he's not far from having it completely - to play again in the position that made him famous, or he persists in wanting to play 9 and he'll waste himself,' Riolo concluded.

The columnist ended his tirade with a final observation: 'We had a fantastic player from the age of 17 to 25, which is already not bad. But now, unless he changes, we won't see the Mbappé we knew again.'