‘It’s a disservice to him as well as the club’ – Real Madrid ‘irritated’ by Kylian Mbappé’s behaviour

Real Madrid are becoming increasingly “irritated” by Kylian Mbappé’s (27) behaviour, L’Équipe understands. It comes after an international break of controversies for the France captain.

Mbappé was injured during the first game of the international break. He scored the winner against Turkiye (1-0) but in doing so injured his knee. Zinédine Zidane announced straight away post-match that the captain had been forced to withdraw from the squad for the rest of the international break. Last week, he was seen at a nightclub in Paris before then posting a video of his cycling in Switzerland, all while he was supposed to be recovering from the knee injury.

The cycling video was particularly controversial given that, not long prior, José Mourinho had given an interview where he expressed that he didn’t like his players cycling due to the risks of injury. Upon his return to Madrid, some reports have suggested that Mbappé got a “dressing down” from Mourinho. L’Équipe understands that the Real Madrid manager asked the Frenchman to show a bit more discretion, especially at a time where the club are struggling, having failed to win a major trophy in the last two seasons. This season, they already trail rivals Barcelona by six points in the league.

And, inside the Spanish club more generally, L’Équipe understands that Mbappé’s behaviour is eliciting “irritation”. That feeling has been heightened by the former Paris Saint-Germain forward’s persistent and public lobbying attempts in the race for the Ballon d’Or. One source at Real Madrid told L’Équipe the following: “After more than two years, we have the impression that he still hasn’t understood how Real and its environment works, nor the behaviour that you have to adopt. He is very badly advised, in terms of image; it is a disservice to him as well as the club.”

GFFN | Luke Entwistle