Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe has been called out for skipping France Nations League games against Israel and Belgium while being available to play for Real Madrid.
Mbappe arrived in Madrid this summer after leaving PSG on a free transfer. However, the France international has failed to hit the ground running and things got worse when he picked up a muscle injury last month.
Expected to be out for three weeks, Mbappe made his return to the pitch in the Champions League last Wednesday.
France coach Didier Deschamps left Mbappe out of the squad he announced on Thursday, saying the 25-year-old lacked preparation, having played too few matches.
Surprisingly, Mbappe started Real Madrid’s La Liga game against Villarreal on Saturday. The talented forward has now been called out for his actions.
“Either you’re injured, and you don’t play with your club and you’re not called up in the national team,” former France international Maxime Bossis told French sports daily L’Equipe on Monday.
“But when you come off the bench in the Champions League and you start a league game, it makes things fuzzy. He’s a special player. We’ve known that with Michel Platini, when we still wanted him with us when he was injured.”
Mbappe’s situation is more complicated because the former Paris St Germain player is the national team captain after being handed the armband.
France will also be without Antoine Griezmann, who last week announced his retirement from international football.
Griezmann’s commitment to Les Bleus was never in doubt as the Atletico Madrid forward played a record 84 consecutive matches for his country between 2017 and 2024.
