Kylian Mbappe will definitely not play for France at the Olympics this summer. The Paris Saint-Germain attacker, currently with Les Bleus active at the European Championship, has not been included in the final eighteen-man squad of France Under-23 by national coach Sylvain Ripoll. Mbappe had according to Le Parisien a few months ago he already had his reservations about his possible participation in the Olympic football tournament in Tokyo, as he prefers extra rest after the European Championships in the run-up to the new season.
At 22 years old, Mbappe is still eligible for the Olympic team of France, as the age limit is currently at 23 years. However, the star player of PSG reportedly did not want to travel to Tokyo, also because the striker is currently working with the French team at the European Championship, with Switzerland as the opponent in the eighth final on Monday. Last year, Mbappé had his sights set on the Olympic Games, which were postponed by a year due to the corona crisis. As a result, the attacker has changed his mind, it sounded in the French media at the end of March. The Olympic football tournament in Tokyo will take place from July 21 to August 7, when preparations for the new season are in full swing.
Mbappe would also like to have time to make a choice about his future at club level. The attacker has been strongly linked to Real Madrid by various foreign media for some time, which, however, has not yet made an official offer to PSG. Partly due to the continuing interest, Mbappe seems to have little interest in extending his contract in Paris until 2022. The star player of the superpower has according to Le Parisien interested in the 2024 Olympic Games, which will take place in Paris in three years’ time. Mbappé could then possibly be added to the French selection as a dispensation player.
Highlights in the French squad include William Saliba, loaned out by Arsenal to OGC Nice in the second part of last season, and Eduardo Camavinga. The Stade Rennes midfielder still appears to be a transfer target from Real, who are reportedly not planning to bring him to Spain until 2022. Téji Savanier (29), Florian Thauvin (28) and André-Pierre Gignac (35) travel as dispensation players to Tokyo, where France starts the group stage against Mexico on July 22. This is followed by duels with South Africa (July 25) in Saitama and Japan (July 28) in Yokohama.
France’s final Olympic squad:
Target: Paul Bernardoni (Angers SC), Gautier Larsonneur (Stade Brest)
Defense: Benoît Badiashile (AS Monaco), Anthony Caci (Racing Strasbourg), Pierre Kalulu (AC Milan), Clément Michelin (RC Lens), William Saliba (Arsenal), Malang Sarr (FC Porto)
Midfield: Eduardo Camavinga (Stade Rennes), Maxence Caqueret (Olympique Lyon), Jonathan Ikoné (Lille OSC), Téji Savanier (Montpellier), Florian Thauvin (Tigres), Lucas Tousart (Hertha BSC)
Attack: André-Pierre Gignac (Tigres), Amine Gouiri (OGC Nice), Randal Kolo Muani (FC Nantes) and Arnaud Nordin (Saint-Etienne).
Reserve player: Maxence Prevot (FC Sochaux)
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