Kylian Mbappé

IN THE WANING DAYS OF summer in Paris, Kylian Mbappé sits high above a stadium, trying to find the words to describe how drastic a turn his life has taken this past year. His breathtaking soccer skills have propelled him to global fame in a matter of months. He earns more money than he could ever have imagined. Nike is designing pricey sneakers in his name. LeBron James wants to see him when he comes to town later that week. And when he steps out on the street, people beg him for autographs.

Then there’s the fact that he’s still just 19 years old, making all this vastly more complicated.

Capturing the wild ride of his last year as a teenager isn’t easy. “My life has been totally turned upside down,” he says, sitting in an airy, wood-paneled lounge atop the Parc des Princes stadium of soccer club Paris Saint-Germain, or PSG, for which Mbappé is a forward. “I am happy, and I am living the life I always dreamed of.” And yet, he says, “I think I might have missed out on something. I did not have the moments of so-called normal people during adolescence, like