Liverpool star to permanently replace Mbappe as France captain

Tom Weber

Updated: 19 Nov 2024 10:55 GMT
3 min read

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

France boss Didier Deschamps will hold talks with Kylian Mbappe over his role as captain, according to French media.

Article continues under the video

The speculation surrounding Mbappe's future with Les Bleus is not subsiding. Omitted from successive squads by coach Deschamps, the topic has become a veritable scandal in France.

Some French fans, particularly the hardcore faithful, believe that the captain of the team should always be present, so they took offence when Mbappe was cleared to play by Real Madrid after an injury earlier this season but left out of the national team squad.

The attacker didn't help his case when he was then spotted visiting a nightclub in Stockholm. Mbappe's most recent omission has flared tempers even more, with some claiming that he refused to be called up, while others insisted that he was considering retiring from international football.

It has been asserted that the Real Madrid star is struggling psychologically with the heavy criticism and scrutiny he faces in his home country and that the burden of captaining the national team weighs heavily on his shoulders.

Mbappe offered to surrender captaincy

In light of this, L'Equipe reports that boss Deschamps will hold talks with the 25-year-old to give him the chance to relinquish the captaincy.

The coach won't force him to do so, but if Mbappe expresses the wish to be relieved of his duties, Deschamps will be more than happy to hand the captaincy to someone else.

Among the potential candidates to succeed Mbappe are N'Golo Kante, Aurelien Tchouameni and Ibrahima Konate. The latter, in particular, appears to be the new favourite for the role, with the French outlet reporting that his leadership qualities have impressed the Les Bleus camp in the absence of Mbappe.

The Liverpool defender captained the side against Italy and Konate is viewed as having an age and personality advantage over the popular but introverted Kante while Tchouameni is at risk of losing his place in the side after some unimpressive recent showings for club and country.