French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday he hoped Kylian Mbappé would play in this year’s Paris Olympic Games.
The France striker confirmed on Friday that he would leave Paris Saint-Germain and he has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid.
“I have no particular comment to make other than the fact that I am counting upon Real Madrid to free up Kylian for the Olympic Games so he can play with the French team,” Macron said in a video posted on his X account.
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Macron made a similar statement last month, saying at that time: “I think that European clubs need to play the game so that we can put on a great show.”
Mbappé said he wanted to play at the Olympics in a news conference ahead of France’s game against Germany in March, though he added that “it doesn’t depend on me.”
Meanwhile, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti refused to be drawn into talking about Mbappé’s expected arrival in Madrid.
“It’s a subject I’m not thinking about at the moment. We have a lot of things to do: today we played, tomorrow we celebrate. And then we have a lot of games.”
On Macron’s comments, he said: “I can’t comment on what the president of France says, I don’t have the right to do so.”
Mbappé, 25, has played 77 times for France and scored a goal in the 2018 World Cup final against Croatia to help his team win the trophy.
