He was expected, and he didn’t use pretenses. During a long interview given to Click this Sunday, Kylian Mbappé reviewed his news from recent months. From his tumultuous end to his adventure in Paris, through the pressure and criticism towards him, his complicated beginnings in Madrid, but also his recent quarrels with the French team… Face of the Blues since 2017 (86 matches, 48 goals) , Mbappé is now the captain of the national team after winning the 2018 World Cup, the Nations League and having played in an unfortunate final at the 2022 World Cup. But these months have also been complicated with France. After a failed Euro 2024 on an individual level, the now Real Madrid player has experienced some recent upheavals.
Mbappé doesn’t forget the Blues
Between an anecdotal truce in September marked by supposed internal quarrels and two absences from the list in October then November, Kylian Mbappé first had to bury the rumors about his lack of desire or commitment: “The French team has always been the highest level in football, it is the selection. I always said there was nothing more important. My love of the France team has not changed. It’s the Nation, it’s the country. Yes, I miss it, because it’s been a long time since I’ve been there. A lot of things happened. In September, I went there, I had a discussion with the coach, I asked not to go. I had just arrived in Madrid. I was in a house that was not the same. Mentally, I wasn’t in a state of mind where I was 100%. I have always said that the French team does not belong to anyone“, he said.
Thus, the native of Bondy prefers to be present if he is in full possession of his means. However, regarding the November truce, Kylian Mbappé admits to having been surprised not to be called by Didier Deschamps: “I had a super short vacation. I had my presentation in Madrid, I had 10/15 days of vacation. The coach said he wanted to see new players. So no headache. He insisted that I come, it didn’t go very well. But it remains the French team. Then in October, I was injured. I wasn’t in these discussions, they were talking between staff. He told me it was better if he didn’t take me. Then there was November. But I can’t say. It’s the coach’s decision, I stand behind him. I respect his decision. He’s the boss. I wanted to go, but I can’t say why I wasn’t called“.
His opinion on the armband in Blues
After the successive retirements of Hugo Lloris and Raphaël Varane, the captain’s armband was vacant for a while. After long weeks of reflection, it was finally Kylian Mbappé who was chosen, to the detriment of Antoine Griezmann, more experienced in the selection. The French striker spoke about the pressure of being captain, who has a very different character from his predecessor: “I don’t have the same armband as Hugo. I get asked a lot of things. It’s a responsibility. People ask me for another job compared to Hugo. I was there, I could see clearly. Griezmann was perfectly legitimate. The coach said to me: what would it be like to be captain of the France team? It would be an honor. I wouldn’t have returned anything if he hadn’t given it to me. In the French team, I was always forgiven. People lied about me“.
He continued on the failure of Euro 2021, during which Kylian Mbappé and the Blues were knocked out by Switzerland in the round of 16: “At Euro 2021, I was lied to from the first to the last day, I was called a monkey, I was blamed for certain failures. But it’s the France team, I’ve always given everything. You serve your country, period. Sometimes it’s writing for the sake of writing, speaking for the sake of speaking, to hurt yourself. So you accept it, otherwise you can be unhappy. I have always put the French team at the highest level. I did everything to represent it as best as possible. I gave my nose. And people tell you that he doesn’t care about the France team. Yeah, I focus on Real but I never gave up on the France team“.
Image generation in progress
Return to the image rights affair
Another slightly older subject is that of image rights. At the time, Kylian Mbappé had started a real standoff with the FFF: “it destroyed people I know (sports betting). When I did that (to oppose it), we did it for the image rights, I got hit because people first said “Kylian wants money “. Except that I have received 0 euros since my first selection, that brings me nothing financially from the Blues, I am even at a loss since now that I am in Madrid, I have to take the plane to go to France (laughs). And then, they understood that it was a collective approach, I went to the fire for the guys, I said “don’t worry, I can go to the fire, I have the vest, I will succeed” . I said “I’m not going to do the shoot, go ahead”“. As a reminder, Kylian Mbappé had refused to take part in the planned photo session following deep disagreements around the choices of sponsors and others. Which he also explained in depth.
“In fact, we didn’t agree on the charter of image rights: junk food, the promotion of sports betting, we are the French team, we inspire… Some of us come from neighborhoods where it destroys an incalculable number of people. So I told my mother “I’m not going (to the shoot)”. President Le Graët called me into my room, I told him “president, I have a lot of respect for you, but keep your saliva, I am not going out, except for training”. I had warned the coach the day before, I said that I would not go and that if he wanted to leak it, he could. The coach understood (…) In the end, we changed the charter, things are going well, even the federation is happy now “. Despite all these topics for discussion, the 25-year-old striker still has big goals with the Blues: “At the Euro, I collapsed, I was tired. I wanted to stay because you give everything for the France team. But it was exhausting. I went on vacation straight away. I didn’t wait. Time was already running out because I had my presentation in Madrid. And then I went on vacation. I’m going to replay the World Cup, it’s the football competition. For the moment, we have made two finals, one is useless. We need to restore order. It’s a bit complicated in selection but we always knew how to get back to the right place. If I manage to bring back two stars out of three… That’s not bad“.
