Real Madrid’s exact stance on the sale of Kylian Mbappe has been revealed by a report, as the aftermath of the striker’s explosive interview continues.
Alvaro Arbeloa started Mbappe on the bench as Real Madrid hosted Real Oviedo in LaLiga on Thursday. Mbappe made his return from injury by replacing Gonzalo Garcia in the 68th minute, but he was jeered by his own fans.
He had angered supporters after pictures of him recovering from injury on holiday in Sardinia emerged. Over 70 million people have since signed an online petition calling for ‘Mbappe Out’.
After the game, which Madrid won 2-0, the France captain said he is currently the ‘fourth-choice striker’ under Arbeloa, with the coach preferring Vinicius Junior, Garcia and Franco Mastantuono.
Mbappe went on to call Arbeloa’s predecessor, Xabi Alonso, a ‘great coach’, further heightening tension between the pair.
Jose Mourinho is poised to replace Arbeloa in the Bernabeu hot seat, and the Portuguese icon will be tasked with getting Mbappe back to his best and helping him earn the love of supporters once again.
Senior AS reporter Jose Felix Diaz has provided an update on the latest saga at Madrid. He writes that Mbappe and Madrid president Florentino Perez will ‘face off’ in the coming days to try and ‘restore order’.
The dressing room is already ‘broken’ and now there is a significant ‘fracture’ developing between Mbappe and Arbeloa, which Perez intends to fix.
There is ‘concern over Mbappe’s behaviour’ as he has ‘drifted away’ from the squad, while some of his own team-mates ‘feel targeted’ by his actions.
The world-class goalscorer is viewed as a ‘cornerstone’ of Madrid’s long-term project, and they do not intend to sell him.
Although, the report adds that ‘nobody is regarded as untouchable’ by Perez, not even Mbappe.
Perez will ‘place the institution above the individual’ if needed, as shown by the previous departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos.
Perez has tasked Mourinho with ‘restoring discipline’ to the Madrid squad this summer. Not only will Mourinho have to deal with Mbappe, he will also have to fix broken partnerships such as Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni, and Alvaro Carreras and Antonio Rudiger.
But if ‘drastic decisions’ are required, then the club will back Mourinho. This could see several big names depart, but probably not Mbappe.
Mourinho has already discussed the difficult situation Arbeloa is facing in the Spanish capital.
Want more breaking transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Googleto your favourites list for news you can trust.
Man Utd told to ‘steer clear’ of Kylian Mbappe
Mbappe has been linked with a stunning move to the Premier League amid the turmoil at Madrid.
However, former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has urged the Red Devils to avoid entering such transfer talks.
“Man Utd should steer clear of Kylian Mbappe for one reason, Mbappe is not a team player,” Meulensteen said.
“That’s the whole problem with Real Madrid. Vinicius Jr is not a team player.
“Those are the players that would never ever feature under somebody like Luis Enrique. And Pep Guardiola, when he started in Barcelona. Because they have got a very straightforward policy, which is about doing the work that you need to do upfront.
“Every pressing action filters down to the midfield and the defence, making everything so much easier. But if you haven’t got that discipline and work rate it doesn’t work.
“To me, it’s not a surprise that Mbappe left PSG with Lionel Messi and Neymar and then they won the Champions League. They were not ready to do what the team needed physically.
“So I would be very, very much against Mbappe at United because they have good hardworking team players and it would be moving away from that.”