The non-summoning of Kylian Mbappé? “It's better that way, and I won't say more.” Didier Deschamps remained very mysterious, Thursday November 7, to justify the absence of his captain from the list for the League of Nations, a second time after that of October. With his standoff against PSG, his missed Euro and marked by his broken nose, a mixed start in Madrid and his unexplained absences, Kylian Mbappé will have had a complicated year in 2024.
His departure from PSG, an exit through the back door
It had been in the air for months, but the series ended on May 10, when Kylian Mbappé officially announced that he would leave PSG at the end of the season. The one who no longer benefited from immunity from Luis Enrique, lived the last two days of Ligue 1 outside the Parisian group. And if PSG supporters displayed a tifo in his image during the reception in Toulouse, no particular tribute was paid to him by the club during the presentation of the French champion trophy.
It must be said that the player did not hesitate to enter into a standoff with Parisian management. Not wishing to extend his contract to one year, he started the 2023-2024 season in the unwanted loft, before an agreement was reached for him to rejoin the professional group. In this oral agreement, the player agreed to waive 55 million in various bonuses if he were to leave free at the end of the season, which he did.
But, seeing his playing time decrease and his salaries for April, May and June unpaid, the 2018 world champion decided to contact the LFP legal commission, as well as the French Football Federation. The LFP's joint national appeals committee ordered PSG to pay 55 million euros to the player, which the club refuses until today.
The Euro, broken nose and “failed” competition
Mentally liberated after his departure from PSG and the formalization of his arrival at Real, Kylian Mbappé started the Euro without these weights on his shoulders. The captain was expected but did not meet expectations. Embarrassed by his broken nose during the first match against Austria, which required him to wear a protective mask, he did not appear very strong. His lack of efficiency was finally symbolized by a strike in the stands in the 86th minute of the semi-final against Spain, when he had the opportunity to send the Blues into overtime.
After the elimination of the French team, he himself recognized a competition “failed”. “I had the ambition to be European champion and to have a good Euro. I did neither”he will concede. And to top it all off, the neo-Madrilenian won't even be able to make up for it during the Olympic Games at home, retained by his new club.
At Real, an arrival with great fanfare but performances not up to par
85,000 people, a big stage, Zinédine Zidane, the Champions League trophies… To welcome Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid pulled out all the stops on July 16. Despite an already bloated workforce in attack, the Bondy prodigy is expected to be the club's next star. But on the ground, adaptation is difficult. Positioned as number 9, at the forefront of the offensive sector, he has struggled since the start of the season to fit into the well-established mechanics of Real.
His eight offsides in the Clasico, lost at home with a humiliating score of 4-0, sparked a lot of mockery. If he has still scored 8 goals in 15 appearances (including 3 on penalties), Mbappé runs less than his teammates in Moyebbe and his lack of involvement in defensive tasks is singled out. Currently, Real Madrid is placed in the soft underbelly of the Champions League standings (18th with two victories and two defeats) and the lack of efficiency of Kylian Mbappé is perhaps not unrelated. The latter only scored one goal in 20 shots.
In the French team, the hour of disenchantment
In October, Kylian Mbappé was not selected by Didier Deschamps, officially to recover from a femoral biceps injury, but two days after the announcement of the coach's list, the Madrilenian found himself starting with Real Madrid . A situation which did not fail to provoke a reaction and which the player did not wish to comment on. “For us, playing for your country is more important”then regretted the French Irrésistibles, the first group of supporters of the Blues, through the voice of their vice-president Anne Costes.
While his teammates in the selection beat Israel and Belgium, he had a good time in Sweden. A stay which took another turn when the Swedish press revealed the opening of a rape investigation, which would target him directly. If he describes the articles as “fake news” and if the courts have not officially indicted him, Kylian Mbappé has resumed the course of his career. Coincidentally with the calendar, he made his return to the French lawns a few days later, in Lille, for a Champions League match, where he was greeted with copious whistles.
