Kylian Mbappé at the center of the game and the “I”

“Even when there is no news, you always talk about him”. Didier Deschamps is not mistaken. At a press conference on Thursday, on the eve of the France team’s match against Gibraltar, Friday June 16, the coach of the Blues recalled the obvious: Kylian Mbappé is at the center of all attention. This is normally the case. It is even more so at the moment, after the French captain sent a letter to Paris Saint-Germain to announce that he will not extend his contract which ends in 2024.

At a press conference on Thursday, it was therefore mainly a question of the future of Mbappé. So that the general public does not have the impression that he “shuns his responsibilities, as he explained, the number 10 of the Blues wanted to appear in front of the journalists. His presence momentarily eclipsed the interest of the match against Gibraltar, confirming that Mbappé is at the center of the “I”. He didn’t really talk about the game, but the Parisian striker will be eagerly awaited on the lawn of the Algarve stadium.

Its future, on everyone’s lips

In March, everyone was already talking only about Mbappé, who had just been named the new captain of the France team. This time, it is therefore his decision not to extend his contract with the club and his possible departure from PSG this summer that are in the news. In recent days, Ibrahima Konaté, Eduardo Camavinga and Jules Koundé have been questioned at a press conference on this subject. “He’s still the same, he doesn’t have a different attitude, he’s normal.”assured Camavinga.

“He’s really not more tense than usual.”, Didier Deschamps confirmed on Thursday. Mbappé, however, seemed annoyed by the many questions from journalists about his future. The closed face, the captain of the Blues affirmed not to be disturbed by all this attention: “I’ve been used to it since I was young.” A dozen Spanish journalists had even made the trip to detect a call from the foot sent by the player to Real Madrid.

Nothing happened and Mbappé was, for once, not very talkative. His presence at the press conference was not obvious, but he chose to attend for a very clear reason: “It was important to be there so that no one would think that I fled or that I was afraid” That Mbappé monopolizes the attention has no impact on the other tricolor players, for his part clarified Deschamps: “There is no jealousy.”

On the ground, several objectives

“I would like the next questions to be about the important playoff match for Euro qualification“, Mbappé launched Thursday at a press conference. As a good captain of the France team, the Parisian tried to refocus the debate and repeatedly reminded that his future was of little importance compared to that of the Blues. After two games, France is at the top of Group B and could retain this first place with a clear round in the next two games against Gibraltar on Friday and Greece on Monday.

At the individual level, Mbappé will also be eagerly awaited. In his last match against a team of standing from Gibraltar, he scored four goals against Kazakhstan (8-0), in November 2021 at the Parc des Princes. By achieving the same performance, he would overtake Michel Platini (41 goals) in the ranking of the top scorers in the history of the France team, he who has 38 achievements with the Blues. Last March, Mbappé made the legend his “next target to shoot“.

It could be for Friday, or for Monday at the Stade de France. For the Blues to find the opening, they will certainly have to rely once again on their captain. In Ireland in March (1-0), France had been in difficulty with a more erased Mbappé. On the offensive front, the number 10 of the Blues is the only certainty: Olivier Giroud is in competition with Randal Kolo Muani for the position of striker, Kingsley Coman still does not convince on the right and Ousmane Dembélé does not manage to s impose on it over time. Once again, everyone will only have eyes for Mbappé.