France manager Didier Deschamps will call Kylian Mbappe about relinquishing captaincy | OneFootball

Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe is fully fit, and has been for the past two international breaks, yet the France captain has not been part of Didier Deschamps’ squad on either occasion. The first occasion was put down to an injury, while Deschamps explained that it was better for him not to be part of the squad this time in order to focus on getting back to his best.

Certainly he has been seeking that at the Santiago Bernabeu, but has struggled in recent games. There have been some theories that Deschamps was punishing Mbappe for skipping the last camp with an injury rather than asking him, something that has been denied.

It has brought into question his role as captain of the France team though. The public backlash has not been kind to Mbappe, and L’Equipe says that Deschamps is considering appointing a different captain. Their information, as carried by Diario AS, says that Deschamps will call Mbappe to see if he wants to continue as captain – if he does, then Deschamps will not argue, and continue backing him.

Mbappe’s appointment itself was the subject of controversy. Many in France believed that it should have been Antoine Griezmann that took over from Hugo Lloris, and some have even pointed to it as a reason for the Atletico Madrid star’s surprise retirement from France duty. Since the 2022 World Cup, Mbappe has struggled to hit the same heights with Les Bleus.