Kylian Mbappe slammed over failed Sunderland transfer

Robin Bairner

Updated: 2 Apr 2025 11:25 BST
3 min read

Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid, Sunderland, 2024/25 — © IMAGO

Kylian Mbappe may have helped Real Madrid through to the final of the Copa del Rey against Real Sociedad on Tuesday, but he would still have had words of criticism over a failed transfer to Sunderland ringing in his ears when he took the field as a substitute.

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Mbappe has grown used to critics over the years and faced a fair share of his own following his free transfer from PSG to Real Madrid in the summer.

Current ETV

Kylian Mbappé

F (C)

Real Madrid

Kylian Mbappé

F (C)

Real Madrid

ETV Range

€136.4M - €166.8M

Shortly after he completed that deal, he bought French Ligue 2 side Caen, whose campaign has been little short of catastrophic.

A fight for promotion had been envisaged at the start of the season, but instead a 4-2 loss away to Paris FC on Monday leaves them nine points short of the relegation playoff with six matches to go and virtually guaranteed to do down.

© IMAGO/Damien Deslandes - Mbappe is finding ownership tough at Caen

Mbappe faces open revolt at Caen

Mbappe’s ownership of the Normandy club has been slammed, and now one of the leading players has openly revolted against the Real Madrid star.

Alexandre Mendy, who was Ligue 2’s top scorer last season with 22 goals, seven more than any other player, had been in line to join Sunderland in the summer. Mbappe put a stop to the deal by buying the club and effectively blocking the deal for a player considered essential to their ambitions. Transfers for Dieudonne Gaucho and Brahim Traore was similarly thwarted.

Now Mendy, who only has eight strikes to his name this term, sent a pointed message to the Mbappe clan.

You only reap what you sow

- Alexandre Mendy on Mbappe's Caen ownership

“I'm speaking for myself: when you don't start a new season with the right energy - everyone knows what happened during this transfer window, for several players - this is what it looks like today. We're going to fight until the end but you only reap what you sow,” Mendy, who was standing in as Caen captain, told BeIN Sports (via Ouest France).

Mendy had made it clear to Caen’s owners that he wanted to leave for Sunderland last August, even refusing to train with the first team at that stage. It came as a surprise when eventually the deal collapsed late in August, with the player previously claiming he had felt "betrayed" by Mbappe.

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