Why PSG’s Mbappe Was Right Choice for France Captain, Pundit Says | OneFootball

After the international retirements of Hugo Lloris and Raphaël Varane, the leadership role on the France national team needed filling. Manager Didier Deschamps had a couple of months to decide, with the selection being Kylian Mbappé.

While there was some pushback on the decision to name the 24-year-old captain, considering Antoine Griezmann is still on the team, the majority applauded the choice, including pundit Bixente Lizarazu.

Lizarazu noted that how the Paris Saint-Germain star handles himself off the pitch was a key factor.

“He was very clever in the press conference compared to Antoine Griezmann,” Lizarazu recently said on Téléfoot (h/t Canal Supporters).

“Then his assist for this same Antoine Griezmann. It was enough of this gesture for everything to calm down. There was no influence on his game since he was as good as usual. I think Didier Deschamps made the right choice. He takes his teammates.”

The Mbappé era began with a 4-0 beat down of the Netherlands on Friday at the Stade de France. Mbappé and Les Bleus will now face off against Ireland on Monday at Aviva Stadium as the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches continue.

It will be interesting to see how the French star settles into this leadership role because PSG could possibly consider giving him the captaincy for the 2023-24 season.

Mbappé could have the reality of captaining both his country and hometown club soon, which at his age doesn’t appear to be too much considering he understands the honor that carries.