Former France winger Jerome Rothen has demanded Kylian Mbappe be stripped of the Les Bleus captaincy after being seen in a Stockholm nightclub while skipping international duty due to a thigh injury.
Mbappe was left out of the France squad named last week by Didier Deschamps for the Nations League games against Israel and Belgium.
But he started for Real Madrid last Saturday against Villarreal, raising questions as to the severity of his ailment.
Mbappe was then spotted in Sweden last night, at the same time as Deschamps’ side were beating Israel 4-1. He is reported to have eaten at a restaurant before going to V nightclub.
Kylian Mbappé på plats i Stockholm https://t.co/mTzFO9yGba
— Sportbladet (@sportbladet) October 11, 2024
Television pundit Rothen was less than impressed, and demanded Deschamps take action.
He told the RMC show Rothen s’enflamme: “We put you very high, we put you above the Eiffel Tower in Paris, so you can’t give that image, you can’t make a mistake.
“What happened shows that he is above everything, above Didier Deschamps. But I ask Didier Deschamps: take your responsibilities, take the armband off him.”
Speaking before the Israel game, which was played in Budapest due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Deschamps said his information was the former Paris Saint-Germain striker was “not at 100 per cent” against Villarreal and he’d been left out to recuperate.
