‘All I want…’ – FFF president evokes Kylian Mbappé situation | OneFootball

For the second consecutive international break, captain Kylian Mbappé (25) is absent from the France squad, however, the head of the French Football Federation (FFF), has told Le Parisien that he hopes for the Real Madrid forward to make a swift return to the national team set-up.

Mbappé was absent during the October international break. That absence, as per the official line, was due to an injury and to allow the forward to recover following a blow received some weeks prior. His appearance – from the start – in Real Madrid’s final La Liga game before that international break saw that line scurtinised.

Mbappé then spent part of that international break on a short trip to Sweden, which was highly controversial at the time. Since, he has found his name linked to an ongoing rape investigation in Stockholm, although the former Paris Saint-Germain forward’s name has not been quoted by prosecutors. As per the AFP, the player’s entourage nonetheless believes that Mbappé is a suspect in this investigation.

That investigation did not play a part in Didier Deschamps choosing not to select his captain for this international break. Injury was not a factor either as Deschamps has kept his reasoning vague. The head of the FFF, Diallo, was, however, kept informed of the manager’s intentions not to select Mbappé.

Whilst the FFF chief has not spoken to Mbappé since Euro 2024, he has expressed a desire for the Real Madrid forward to return to the set-up.“Kylian is one of the best players in the world. He is going through a delicate period, but my wish, I think for everyone who loves football, is that he comes out of it as quickly as possible, that he becomes once again the player that made us dream in 2018 and 2022, that he returns to Les Bleus, takes back the captain’s armband and leads us towards the World Cup in 2026 in search of a third star,” said Diallo.

He added, “All I want is for him to come back into his place as quickly as possible, at the head of the France national team.” Given his absence from the current squad, that will come next March, at the earliest.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle