Kylian Mbappé captain of the France team, it was written. Everything in the trajectory and character of the PSG striker argued in this direction, but perhaps not now. Only, Didier Deschamps did not want to wait any longer to induct the best French player, and perhaps in the world. So yes, “there will be a new distribution” of responsibilities according to the coach, with “a captain, a vice-captain” and perhaps “a third”. But even coated, the truth is as simple as raw: the boss now is officially “Kyky”. And inevitably, this choice will have consequences that we can already guess, if not anticipate them all.
Antoine Griezmann, upset owner
Will the Blues experience their first post-World Cup psychodrama? The captaincy granted to Kylian Mbappé does not only make people happy in the blue locker room. The leaks on the disappointment of Antoine Griezmann followed very quickly those on the identity of the new tenant of the armband. Without being the biggest fan of Robert Pirès as a consultant, we want to follow him when, questioned by AFP, the 1998 world champion assures us that he would have found it “more judicious” to give the armband to Grizou “now and [à] Kylian in two years”.
The striker-midfielder-scorer-passer-tackler, who turns 32 on Tuesday, had the profile of the perfect transition captain until Euro 2024 in Germany, where he could celebrate a decade in the event of qualification. in blue. Impeccable on the lawn, both in selection (apart from the final of the last World Cup) and at Atlético Madrid, the man with 42 pawns in 117 caps has for years been a privileged relay for Deschamps, the only coach that he knew among the A.
“It’s a lack of respect vis-à-vis Antoine even if, I insist, I have nothing against Kylian”, asserts Pirès bluntly. According to the Figaro, Griezmann in any case experienced the episode as a snub. So much so that he would wonder about the follow-up to his international career, after the double meeting against the Netherlands then Ireland. It is hard to imagine the Madrilenian so brutally closing such a brilliant chapter. But the scar that DD’s choice could leave on the forehead of Harry Potter Mâcon should not turn into an ugly crack in the locker room.
The Blues take it for (at least) 10 years
Man of all records in Blue, Hugo Lloris will have “cheffé” during 121 of his 145 selections, for 12 years. Nothing says that Kylian will still sprint at the Stade de France in 2035. But Bondy’s express is only 24 years old and, barring injury, his reign should summon the memory of Louis XIV more than that of the unfortunate John I the Posthumous. By longevity, but also by the way of conceiving power, as an absolute monarch.
We can easily imagine the Bondynois, at the end of the first two sluggish matches during the 2026 World Cup, reminding his teammates that they must “eat well” and “sleep well” before the decisive meeting for qualification. And if the Sun King had succeeded in transforming the great nobles into spineless courtiers happily playing the cotton carriers near his commode, the cloakroom of the Blues in the 21st century only remotely resembles the court of Versailles of the era.
The divisive character of Kyky risks sparking by rubbing against certain egos that are also very developed. But as long as he continues to display a level that should allow him – one day – to align the Golden Balls on the chimney, Mbappé will remain unbreakable, and his armband impossible to tear off.
Media outlets to scrutinize
Alongside Hugo Lloris, even the deputy Charles de Courson, very prominent on Monday in the National Assembly, displays the eloquence of André Malraux. The Tottenham goalkeeper will go down in history for his exploits during the final stages of major competitions, not for his press conferences sprinkled with lukewarm water. With Mbappé, inevitably, that will change. “If he has one quality, it’s that he’s pretty good at communicating,” says Deschamps about him.
We can imagine the alerts falling on smartphones each time the duo Kyky – DD goes out on the eve of matches for the France team, fed by the first rather than the second. We are already seeing requests for accreditation skyrocket, particularly from the Madrid press, the endless debatesThe Chiringuito on a quarter sentence where Kyky would have, perhaps, slipped an allusion to a possible transfer to Real…
Except that Deschamps warned on Monday: “there is no obligation” for a coach to appear in front of journalists with his captain. And he made it clear that while he was still flanked by Hugo Lloris behind the mic until now, things would change. Raphaël Raymond, the media relations manager at the Blues, breathes a little better.
A future president of the FFF under tension
This point joins the previous one. Mbappé’s sense of communication, who never speaks by chance, has already driven Noël Le Graët crazy. The Parisian had reacted very quickly – in a virulent way – to the words of the former president of the FFF on Zinédine Zidane, an ordinary Sunday evening in early January, which would precipitate the end of the reign of the Breton in a snowball effect then unsuspected .
A few months earlier, “NLG” had repeatedly assured, without convincing anyone, that there was no problem with the Bondynois, when the latter had snubbed commercial obligations with sponsors that did not suit him. The next boss in title of French football, who will be elected in June during the Federal Assembly, will have to deal with a real number 1 bis, whose sporting legitimacy is further reinforced by the attribution of the captaincy.
Mbappé in France is now Messi in Argentina and Ronaldo in Portugal: an essential character, who more than ever embodies the football of his country, for experts and laymen alike.