Former Paris Saint-Germain standout Kylian Mbappé is in controversy in France after Didier Deschamps did not call up the 25-year-old for the UEFA Nations League against Israel and Belgium.
The Frenchman is recovering from a thigh injury, so it makes sense why he wouldn’t receive a call-up. However, Real Madrid announced the squad for their match against Villarreal on Saturday, and Mbappé is on the list.
Mbappé’s inclusion on the squad has generated controversy as to why he isn’t playing for France this FIFA break. Considering the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner is the captain, there’s always a responsibility for him to be there.
📋✅ Our squad for the match!
🆚 @VillarrealCFen#RealMadridVillarreal pic.twitter.com/Ql6mW8kfyE— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) October 4, 2024
Nonetheless, former defender Patrice Evra noted that Deschamps and the France Football Federation understand that they’re no longer dealing with PSG anymore and that they want to preserve a relationship with Real Madrid.
“If you call him up and he gets injured, you’ll damage your relationship with [Florentino] Perez,” Evera said on Rothen s’enflamme. “Real Madrid aren’t PSG—you can’t afford to take that kind of risk. But honestly, you’re the ones who built up this whole legend around Mbappé. With all due respect to him, he’s still not on Benzema’s level.”
🗨️ “Si tu le convoques et qu’il se blesse, c’est le meilleur moyen de bousiller tes relations avec Perez. Le Real ce n’est pas le PSG, tu ne peux pas prendre ce risque. Mais c’est vous qui avez crée cette légende autour de Mbappé. Avec tout le respect que j’ai pour lui, il… pic.twitter.com/Cnjwxdclro
— Rothen s’enflamme (@Rothensenflamme) October 4, 2024
It will be interesting to see how France looks like without their captain as Antoine Griezmann will not be part of the team since he retired from international duty this week.
