Ancelotti unfazed by Mbappe’s impending exit
MADRID — Coach Carlo Ancelotti is trying to keep Real Madrid focused on the task at hand despite all the talk about Kylian Mbappe.
Ancelotti said on Saturday he is not thinking about the possible signing of Mbappe, and that his only concern is to get his team ready for Sunday’s match at Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish league.
Mbappe on Thursday told Paris Saint-Germain he will leave the French club at the end of the season, opening the door for a possible move by Madrid to sign the star forward.
Madrid tried signing Mbappe a couple of years ago but the player ended up staying with PSG.
“I see and hear things,” Ancelotti said. “And I understand that it is the topic of the day for you, but for us it’s tomorrow’s game. We have to play well tomorrow, that’s what I think.”
Ancelotti sidestepped questions about whether his players were talking about Mbappe in the locker room, or about whether he would like to coach the forward.
“We talked about the game, we saw videos of Rayo, we know that this is a vital game for us this season,” Ancelotti said. “What I would like to do is to finish this season well, to win titles. That’s what I would like. There’s a long time to go before next season.”
Midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni said recently that he and his Madrid teammates did talk about France colleague Mbappe at times, saying it was an important subject.
Mbappe will be a free agent after seven years with PSG. He informed the French club last year that he would not trigger an extension to the contract he signed in 2022.
There could be a bidding war among several clubs to sign the former World Cup winner, but Madrid is widely considered to be in the driving seat. Mbappe never hid his dream of one day playing for the Spanish powerhouse.
Madrid has a five-point lead over Girona in the Spanish league. Last week, Madrid defeated RB Leipzig 1-0 in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.
Mbappe came off the bench and scored a penalty as PSG beat Nantes 2-0 on Saturday.
Lucas Hernandez’s deflected strike broke the deadlock on the hour at Stade de la Beaujoire before Mbappe made sure of the points after he was fouled inside the area.
PSG stretched its lead at the top of Ligue 1 to 14 points with a record-extending 12th title surely now a formality after second-placed Nice suffered a fifth loss in nine games on Friday.
The main talking point in Paris though is the future of Mbappe, who is seemingly entering the final months of a seven-year stint with the French champion.
It is understood that Mbappe’s exit will be formally announced in a few months’ time.
“It’s all going very well with Mbappe, there’s no problem,” PSG coach Luis Enrique told Canal Plus after the game.
PSG toiled for an hour without the league’s top scorer as Mbappe, who struck in the 2-0 Champions League win over Real Sociedad in midweek, started on the bench.
“It’s very easy yet difficult to explain,” Luis Enrique said of the decision to leave Mbappe out of the lineup.
“After our Champions League match two days ago I thought we needed energy to play well and that it was necessary to give minutes to those who did not play (on Wednesday).
“We have ambitious goals and we need all the players.”