KYLIAN MBAPPE has been dropped from the France squad after a difficult start to life at Real Madrid.
The French captain, 25, missed last month’s internationals through injury but manager Didier Deschamps revealed his “one off” decision was nothing to do with fitness.
Mbappe has struggled to settle in Madrid following his dream free transfer in the summer.
The former Paris Saint-Germain man has eight goals in all competitions for the Spanish giants but has gone missing in big games, including in the 4-0 loss to rivals Barcelona and in their midweek defeat to AC Milan.
Deschamps held talks with Mbappe who told the manager he wanted to be included in the squad for games against Israel and Italy.
But the France boss said: “I’ve had discussions with him, it is a decision that I took for this block of matches only.
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“It’s my responsibility to make decisions. I think it’s better that way.
“I’m not going to argue.
“What I can tell you are these two things. One, that Kylian wanted to come.
“And two, it’s not the extra sporting problems that come into play since the presumption of innocence exists and must exist. It’s a one-off choice for this gathering.”
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Mbappe last month dismissed reports in Swedish media linking him to a rape inquiry in the country as “fake news”.
His lawyers said he was “stunned” by the reports and they were preparing to hit back with a claim for defamation, according to the BBC.
Mbappe is expected to play for Real Madrid when they host Osasuna in LaLiga on Saturday.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side will return from the international break with a trip to Leganes, before they jet off to England to take on Liverpool in the Champions League.
They are nine points adrift of Barcelona in LaLiga with one game in hand.
In Europe, they have won two and lost two, leaving them 18th out of 36 teams in the league phase of the Champions League with four games remaining.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
