Kylian Mbappe OUT of France squad after Real Madrid nightmare but five Premier League stars called up
KYLIAN MBAPPE has been left out of Didier Deschamps’ France squad.
The Real Madrid forward, 25, will not be available for Les Bleus’ matches against Israel and Belgium later this month.
Mbappe suffered an injury scare during his club’s 3-2 win over Deportivo Alaves last month.
He was substituted after feeling an issue in his hamstring, and following subsequent tests was expected to be missing for three weeks.
The former Paris Saint-Germain star has recovered earlier than expected from his injury, and was deemed fit enough to make a 33 minute cameo from the bench against Lille last night in the Champions League.
He was unable to turn the tide, however, with Real Madrid falling to a 1-0 defeat to the Ligue 1 side, who boast Mbappe’s younger brother Ethan among their ranks.
Despite Kylian having returned to fitness, Deschamps has opted against calling him up.
Mbappe has played 10 times for Real Madrid since quitting PSG for the Spanish capital in the summer.
He has so far scored seven goals for his new team, and had bagged in his last four appearances prior to getting injured.
Mbappe’s Real Madrid team-mates Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga will join up with France following their club’s clash with Villarreal this Saturday.
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But Ferland Mendy has been left out.
Despite Mbappe’s absence, Deschamps will have plenty of attacking quality to call upon.
In-form PSG winger Bradley Barcola will be involved, as will his club team-mates Ousmane Dembele and Randal Kolo Muani.
Bayern Munich star Michael Olise is also in the squad, as is Inter Milan‘s Marcus Thuram.
There is a recall for Chelsea star Christopher Nkunku, who has played just 29 minutes for his country since being ruled out of the 2022 World Cup on the eve of the tournament.
In addition to Nkunku, Premier League stars William Saliba, Ibrahima Konate, Lucas Digne and Wesley Fofana have all been called up.