There is no escape. Present at a press conference on Saturday May 28, after welcoming his players to the Château de Montjoye in Clairefontaine, Didier Deschamps was asked about the outcome of the soap opera of recent weeks which led to Kylian Mbappé’s extension to PSG. The coach, once again, underlined the free choice of his proteges. The future of Aurélien Tchouaméni or other coveted players during this gathering was also mentioned. The Blues must play four group matches in the League of Nations to try to position themselves as best they can for a qualification for the final phase which will take place in the summer of 2023.
How did you welcome Kylian Mbappé’s decision to stay at Paris SG by rejecting advances from Real Madrid?
Didier Deschamps: It’s his choice. I’m not going to go into the ins and outs, he made his decision. That Kylian remains in Ligue 1 is a very, very good thing for French football, and the influence of L1 abroad. He is French, he is attached [à son club]. Being French, compared to the L1, this can only be a very good thing. The objective of Paris is the same as six or seven other big clubs, it is to be champion in his country and to win the Champions League. Leaving is an option. But we are still talking about a young player. He may be required to go abroad at some point, even if it is not an obligation either, due to the quality of the L1. In another era, there was certainly a different culture, a shift [de niveau], whereas today, if you make a hierarchy of major championships, it is not the same as ten years ago. The fact of not going abroad does not prevent accomplishing great things and continuing to grow.
Could the fact that he didn’t go to Real create misunderstandings, particularly with Karim Benzema, for example?
Interpretations, above all. No matter what we do or say, it leads to different interpretations from people who don’t have all the elements. From my position as coach, I have the players live and I know from A to Z what is going on. The main thing is group unity. Every situation can lead to misunderstandings. From a situation, we can all draw conclusions which may be negative and which would not be necessary, because in most cases, it is more often a clumsiness, a misunderstanding or an interpretation which does not reflect reality. With the connected world, this can go very quickly. The slightest sentence, the slightest photo and it goes quickly.
Other players, like Aurélien Tchouaméni, could change clubs. How do you handle this?
Many are coveted and will have to change scenery this summer. Aurélien is one of the players in high demand, and by big clubs. I’m not here to give advice, but I can give my opinion. But it’s their decision, their career choice, we often don’t have all the elements either. In absolute terms, there are no bad choices, only good ones, and it all depends on how it goes next. When they choose to go somewhere, they are convinced that it is the best choice for them.