There has been a major question mark over Kylian Mbappe‘s presene in the French Olympic team, as Les Bleus seek to have a global superstar at their showstopper event. Ahead of a potential upcoming move to Real Madrid though, terms have reportedly still not been settled between the two, with the Olympics a major reason for that.
Mbappe is keen to be at the Olympics in his home city of Paris, and have the chance to win gold, but also increase his global appeal at the world’s largest sporting event. Meanwhile French President Emmanuel Macron is also keen to have Mbappe present, as France seeks to show a multicultural vision of France to the world, something which would be exemplified by Antoine Griezmann alongside him in the football team.
For their part, Los Blancos have communicated to the French Football Federation that they have no intention to let any of their players go to the Olympics. They fear that manager Thierry Henry will pursue Eduardo Camavinga, Ferland Mendy or Aurelien Tchouameni for the games too.
The potential missed revenue from their preseason tour to the USA that Real Madrid would miss out from Mbappe not being there is one of the arguments that the club are making to try and get Mbappe to miss out the Paris 2024 games. However with Mbappe insisting, Los Blancos are using it to try and negotiate down the percentage of image rights that Mbappe would receive at Real Madrid, as per Sport. Most stars receive 50% at the club, but Mbappe has been keen over recent years to retain all of his image rights, something that took him into conflict with the FFF.
While it is presumed by all that Mbappe will join Real Madrid, and that there is a verbal agreement in place for him to join, few have reported that the deal has been settled entirely yet. Mbappe’s wishes are understandable, but there is no doubt that Los Blancos will be damaged by his absence from their preseason tour. It remains to be seen who blinks first though.
