Paul Rouget, Media365: published on Sunday October 13, 2024 at 10:11 a.m.
Criticized by some after his trip to Sweden during Israel-France, Kylian Mbappé was supported by his teammates at the Blues, like Mattéo Guendouzi, who believes that “this question of his attachment to the France team should not even arise .”
The captain of the Blues can count on the support of his teammates. Absent from the French team gathering in order to perfect his physical condition, Kylian Mbappé, seen in a nightclub in Stockholm while Didier Deschamps’ men dominated Israel in Budapest last Friday for the 3rd day of the Ligue des nations (4-1), “does what he wants with his free time”, as Wesley Fofana recalled on Saturday at a press conference. “Kylian is a great boy and a great professional. He does what he wants. He manages his career as he sees fit. He’s a great French player, it’s normal that he is in the media. Is it too much or not? I find that from time to time, you (the journalists, editor’s note) go a little hard,” said the Chelsea defender.
“A player who loves his country”
Also present in front of the press two days before the trip to Brussels, Mattéo Guendouzi, who could start in Belgium after a good start against Israel, also defended the Real Madrid striker, ensuring that the Blues will not have “no doubt about him. We spoke to him on the phone again before the match against Israel. We have him by messages. He is someone who is attached to us, attached to the France team. Obviously, we were all a little disappointed that he wasn’t there to help us in these two matches, but there are reasons why he wasn’t 100% fit. We all know that, he’s a player who loves his country, this team, and who will help us bring it back to the highest level. We have to stop talking about it too much, because there’s really no problem with it. He does what he wants during his days off, because of what he did in the Blues, what he does and what he will do, this question of his attachment to the France team. shouldn’t even arise.” The French captain, who saw his Merengue partner Aurélien Tchouaméni inherit the armband, should a priori make his return to the Blues next month, with two new Nations League matches on the program, against Israel, perhaps at the Parc des Princes , and in Italy.