THE GREAT BALA NCING ACTS
Mbappe’s Paris stay ends soon but he could sign off with a treble... and an elusive European Cup
SINCE telling Paris Saintgermain last month that he will be leaving in the summer, Kylian Mbappe has been dropped by the French champions and informed by Real Madrid he cannot play in his hometown Olympics.
But with the business end of the season now fast approaching, the 2018 World Cup winner will be back on the big stage.
And Mbappe could yet say au revoir to Qatari-owned PSG with a treble – including finally winning the Champions League at Wembley – before leading the favourites into Euro 2024 in Germany.
The 2018 World Cup has won five Ligue 1 titles, three French Cups and become PSG’S record goalscorer since signing for £166m in 2017.
Yet after several near misses, he has finally decided to sign for Real Madrid as a free agent on a five-year contract sweetened by a €150m signing-on bonus.
Since February 14, Mbappe has played only the full 90 minutes in three out of seven matches and was unceremoniously hauled off at half-time against Monaco.
“It was 100 percent the coach’s decision,” said PSG boss Luis Enrique. “Sooner or later we will have to get used to playing without Kylian Mbappe.”
But then Mbappe starred in the Champions League win over Real Sociedad and scored his third hattrick of the season in his last Ligue 1 match against Montpellier.
“As long as we can take advantage of him, so much the better,” Enrique said.
Speaking before tonight’s friendly with Germany, France head coach Didier Deschamps claimed his star player’s reduced playing time could be a bonus for Les Bleus.
“It’s important to be physically fresh for a major competition,” said the former Chelsea midfielder. “In any case, all the players will arrive at the end of the season feeling a little tired.
“If that fatigue can be reduced a little, all the better.”
Deschamps was less sanguine about Real Madrid writing to the French FA telling them their players will not be released for Thierry Henry’s team at the Paris Olympics. The event does not fall in a FIFA window and Los Blancos have a lucrative North American tour already booked at the same time to unveil Mbappe.
“Real Madrid’s stance on the
Olympic
Games is a bit outdated,” said
Deschamps. “But if it’s not on an official FIFA date, if they say no, the answer is no.”
After reaching the 2020 Champions League final and the departures of Neymar and Lionel Messi, winning at Wembley on June 1 would be the perfect leaving present for Mbappe.
Enrique’s PSG team are better balanced without the other two superstars while Manuel Ugarte and Osmane Dembele have been good signings.
They are 12 points clear at the top of Ligue 1, into the semi-finals of Coupe de France and are on the right side of the Champions League draw with a quarter-final against Barcelona.
Speaking on Twitch this week, Enrique was asked if Mbappe will start against the
Catalans. “What do you think?” the
Spaniard
laughed.
Even in Germany, it’s the same old argument about Havertz... where is his BEST position?
FRANCE v GERMANY
International Friendly: 8pm
JOHN CROSS
A FAMILIAR debate has been raging about Kai Havertz in Germany this week.
BY
With the Euros just 12 weeks away, the question is whether Havertz should start for the tournament hosts in their friendly with France in Lyon tonight.
The Arsenal striker is the favourite but Niclas Füllkrug and Deniz Undav are also in the mix as Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann prepares to experiment ahead of the Euros.
Nagelsmann loves Havertz, even to the point of playing him at leftback last November against Turkey and Austria. But the chat remains in the German media about where is his best position.
Havertz, who has played as a centre-forward, false nine, midfielder and wide left, even joked recently when doing a post-match interview with Sky’s Jamie Redknapp that he was happy to play at left-back if needed.
That is why coaches love him and why Mikel Arteta signed him, stuck with him and has now championed him as a huge part of Arsenal’s title push.
But even at Arsenal, the debate has raged among fans as to where he should play. Arsenal supporters have adapted the Anthony Martial song and have been singing “£65million down the drain, Kai Havertz scores
again” to mock the negativity surrounding his arrival from Chelsea last summer.
Havertz had big shoes to fill when he arrived but not only did he take Grant Xhaka’s place in midfield, he also moved into the former Gunners captain’s house.
It took a while for him to find his best position but he is a gifted, technical player who immediately took to Arteta’s intense and demanding training sessions.
He has a razor-sharp football brain, has scored the winner in a Champions League final and he understood the methodology much better than most.
He is also known as a likeable character around the training ground, down to earth and pleasant. He has bought into the club’s ideals, community programmes and charity work.
On the pitch it took him time to discover his best role. Despite snipes from Chelsea fans who do not watch Arsenal very often, he was playing brilliantly before Christmas and has now hit a real purple patch.
Since Arsenal’s warm weather camp in Dubai, Havertz has scored in four consecutive Premier League games and he has played as a false nine. He is keeping fit-again Gabriel Jesus out of the team.
It is not just his goals but his work off the ball and his runs into the box unlock space for other players to score. He is a complete package.
Havertz has been a difficult puzzle to solve ever since he joined Chelsea for £71m in 2020. His winning goal in the 2021 Champions League final turned a mediocre season into a memorable one.
But other coaches could not get the best out of him and he was almost seen as a vanity project for Arteta by the time he arrived at Arsenal.
However, the fact that Arteta and Nagelsmann, Thomas Tuchel before them, have put so much faith in Havertz says everything and why he stands such a great chance of getting the nod from Nagelsmann tonight – and against Scotland at the opening match of the Euros on June 14.