'Been played the fool' - Mbappe embroiled in BIZARRE scandal

Tom Weber

Updated: 7 Oct 2024 18:11 BST
4 min read

Kylian Mbappe's omission from the latest France squad has sparked a bizarre controversy in France.

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The Real Madrid star suffered an injury against Deportivo Alaves last month and only recently recovered. Mbappe was not fit enough to start against Lille in the Champions League last week and, as a result, Didier Deschamps left the France captain out of his squad for the new international break.

It seemed a fairly innocuous and understandable decision given that Mbappe is surely not back to full fitness yet, but to say that the issue has been blown out of proportion in France would be an understatement.

The fact that Carlo Ancelotti started Mbappe against Villarreal at the weekend, with the forward playing 71 minutes, has led to France's main supporters' group questioning the decision and lashing out at the 25-year-old, claiming that this whole situation 'is not normal.'

Mbappe criticised; Deschamps responds

A spokesperson of Irrésistibles Français thundered in L'Equipe: “What we have taken from this week is that the real captain has left, the one that was knighted by the fans, Antoine Griezmann. We asked ourselves if the choice of captain was the right one and with this episode, I don’t know. There has been an error somewhere whilst we have lost an exemplary model.

“Is it a communication issue? It isn’t normal, as a captain. Either Real Madrid or France have asked him to shut up, but we know that when he wants to speak, he speaks, so he should assume his captaincy. I won’t go so far as to say that we feel as though we’ve been played the fool and I don’t know by whom, but it is a week to forget and it will be difficult because it will leave traces.”

This strange controversy has now prompted a response from Deschamps, who told the French federation's YouTube channel: "I ensure that, in my relationship with the players, I talk with them. Of course, the most important thing for me is the player’s interest.

"I know full well that he won’t go against his club. He also doesn’t want to go against his national team. But at some point, after a discussion, you have to centre the player’s interest without making things difficult for him.

I am not here to take risks. I was a club manager and when you’re at a club, and you think that there is a risk, you can still play players." France are slated to play Israel and Belgium in the coming days.