Kylian Mbappe believes it is only natural that his name is being linked with the Ballon d'Or after a record-breaking World Cup campaign with France.
The Real Madrid striker enjoyed a remarkable tournament this summer, scoring 10 goals to win the Golden Boot as France finished fourth.
Mbappe's exploits also took him to 22 career World Cup goals, making the 27-year-old France captain the competition's all-time leading scorer.
Despite his extraordinary scoring record for club and country, Mbappe has yet to win the Ballon d'Or, awarded annually 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 prolifically, but the Spanish giants have failed to win a major trophy during his time at the club.
Madrid begin their Champions League league-phase campaign on Tuesday when the record 15-time European champions host Inter Milan.
Mbappe's first two years in the Spanish capital have coincided with questions over the balance of the team. The Frenchman and Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior have faced criticism over whether they contribute enough outside of their attacking output.
Their performances have been contrasted with the work of Ousmane Dembele at Paris Saint-Germain and Raphinha at Barcelona.
"We have to improve," Mbappe admitted.
"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 Mbappe to score fewer goals if it meant contributing more to the team's overall effort and helping Madrid win trophies.
Mbappe insisted he would happily accept a lower goal tally in exchange for silverware, but rejected the idea that scoring goals and winning trophies have to be mutually exclusive.
"I'd take 30 goals with titles, yes, but... for me it's an absurd debate," Mbappe said.
"I always want to score goals and win titles... you don't have to choose, you can do both things."
Tuesday's Champions League clash will also be a significant occasion for Mourinho, who famously guided Inter Milan to Champions League glory in 2010.
The Portuguese coach completed a historic treble with Inter that season, beating Bayern Munich in the Champions League final at the Santiago Bernabeu before leaving the Italian club to take charge of Real Madrid.
Mourinho acknowledged his enduring affection for Inter but insisted sentiment would disappear once the match begins.
"There aren't many [people] left from my time, but it'll always be a pleasure to see people, even if I don't know them, but people who defend Inter, before and after," Mourinho said.
"During the game I want to win, they want to win, and there won't be time to think about things from a wonderful past."
Mourinho is demanding a response from Madrid following their first defeat of the season, a 1-0 LaLiga loss at Real Betis on Friday.
"I want to win. I could tell you I want to play well, but I don't want to play well like we did against Betis and lose," he said.
"Obviously we're in a phase where we play eight games and the objective in these eight games is to qualify, and I think we're going to do that. But I want to think about this match in isolation from that context.
"I want to think about this match as a one-off game. I don't want to think that we still have seven more matches to play, and I want to win."
