Jardim backs Mbappe to fire ahead of title defence

PARIS: Monaco head coach Leonardo Jardim is confident that Kylian Mbappe will be focused for the start of his side’s Ligue 1 title defence at Toulouse on Friday, despite being linked with a bigmoney move to Real Madrid.

The principality side stunned Paris Saint-Germain last season to claim their first French championship in 17 years, although PSG have flexed their muscles in the transfer window and look set to sign Neymar for a world-record 222 million euros ($260m) from Barcelona.

Monaco’s successes of last season, when they also reached the Champions League semifinals, were built with a young team, including the 18-year-old Mbappe.

But they will kick off the new campaign with an alreadydepleted squad after the departures of Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy to Manchester City and midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko to Chelsea, while forward Valere Germain decided to switch to domestic rivals Marseille.

But Mbappe, who scored 15 Ligue 1 goals and six goals in as many Champions League knockout games last term as he burst onto the scene, is still a Monaco player, and Jardim doesn’t think he was affected by transfer speculation during a difficult pre-season.

“Mbappe didn’t score during pre-season, but he’s been working very hard,” he told the club website on Wednesday.

“You can only do your talking on the pitch. A high-level player does not need motivation.”

Monaco have stuck to their policy of buying potential stars at a young age.

They moved to replace the outgoing Bakayoko with Belgian international midfielder Youri Tielemans, and he impressed in last Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to PSG in the French Champions’ Trophy.

On Wednesday, they also secured the signing of 21-yearold striker Adama Diakhaby from Rennes.

PSG will start their bid to win back the title with a home game against newly-promoted Amiens on Saturday, when Neymar’s Brazil team-mate Dani Alves is likely to make his French topflight debut. - AFP