Tommy Martin: Has age of the superstar been replaced by the system?

Who is the best player in the world right now? Is it Mbappé, who won a World Cup in his teens but on Tuesday was being playfully tossed between Nico Schlotterbeck and Mats Hummels like a hacky sack?

Luis Enrique, left, comforts PSG's Kylian Mbappe

“Who’s the best player in the world right now?” a small voice piped up as we watched Borussia Dortmund’s rearguard action end Kylian Mbappé’s hopes of finishing his time at Paris Saint Germain as a Champions League winner.

It is only right and proper that innocent babes consult their elders on such matters. In the crevasses of our brows and the silver of our temples lie the wisdom of years. For a wistful moment I remembered the subjects of my own confusion at a similar age – the fall of the Berlin Wall, the plight of apartheid South Africa, Marathon bars being changed to Snickers – and was thankful for wise parental counsel.