Real Madrid ace Kylian Mbappe has “gone off the rails” according to a French journalist, who cited anonymous sources when saying that the 25-year-old lives a “deplorable lifestyle”.
Mbappe has come under fire in France for his Euros campaign, which he himself said were a “failure” after Les Bleus’ semifinal KO by Spain.
“My competition? It was difficult,” Mbappe admitted at a post-match press conference. “It was a failure. We had the ambition to be European champions; I had the ambition to be European champion. We aren’t that, so it’s a failure.
“It’s football. We have to move on. It’s been a long year. I’m going to go on holiday and get some rest — that’ll do me a lot of good, and I’ll try and come back strongly,” Mbappe vowed.
Such self-criticism has been commended in some corners, but French World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit didn’t hold back when he scathed that the forward is an “unworthy captain” for his country.
“He was failing, physically he was failing and in his role as captain he was also failing. For me he was an unworthy captain,” Petit concluded at the end of a rant, where he questioned Mbappe’s leadership for criticising his teammates among other things.
Elsewhere, RMC journalist Daniel Riolo has joined the pile on by making serious accusations about the Ballon d’Or hopeful.
“Mbappe has always surprised me, but that player no longer exists. [He] has completely gone off the rails. He has led a deplorable lifestyle, [and] no longer focuses on football. He has dispensed with training,” Riolo stated.
With Mbappe about to be presented at the Bernabeu before 80,000 fans next week, Riolo believes that his career could be put back on track by completing a free transfer to Los Blancos from Paris Saint-Germain.
“He is lucky enough to go to Real Madrid, and maybe it is the right path that saves him, but at 25 years old, the other path is that of Neymar and [Marco] Verratti, which means that you no longer train properly, you no longer have your explosiveness and you are no longer worth much,” Riolo warned.
In the Spanish capital, Mbappe, set to wear his compatriot Karim Benzema’s old number 9 shirt, will encounter an excellent man manager in head coach Carlo Ancelotti, who has a proven track record of exacting top form from his Galacticos.
Perhaps under the Italian, Mbappe can complete his goals of winning the Champions League and scooping football’s highest individual accolade in the mentioned Ballon d’Or.
