Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé has been named the new captain of the French men’s national team, succeeding goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, who retired from international duty.
The 24-year-old accepted the proposal after discussions with coach Didier Deschamps earlier in the day. Atletico Madrid attacker Antoine Griezmann was named vice-captain after Manchester United centre-back Raphaël Varane also hung up his boots following the defeat to Argentina in December.
Mbappé was chosen over Antoine Griezmann by Deschamps. Griezmann is reportedly considering retiring from international football after seeing captaincy duty passed to Mbappé. However, Mbappé has said that he will not let his new role change him as a player or person.
Deschamps is said to view Mbappe as a more suitable long-term option, as somebody that could fill the armband for the next 10 years, but that decision may be causing divides in the camp ahead of Euro 2024 qualification openers against the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland.
Mbappé has played 66 times for France and scored 36 goals, becoming his country’s second-highest World Cup scorer behind Just Fontaine, who scored an incredible 13 times in the tournament.
He led PSG in recent matches in Brazilian defender Marquinhos’ absence and recently became the Ligue 1 team’s record goalscorer, overtaking Edinson Cavani’s record of 200 goals.
Mbappé was heavily linked with the role for weeks and scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final loss after helping Les Bleus to the title in 2018.
Source – Tru News Report
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