Kylian Mbappe has slammed French Football Federation president Noel Le Graet for his ‘disrespectful’ remarks about Zinedine Zidane..
La Graet has enraged many French people with his dismissive remarks about Zidane, mocking the idea that the former Real Madrid manager could have succeeded Didier Deschamps as France’s national team manager.
Deschamps’ contract with France expired after the World Cup, and Zidane was widely expected to replace him. However, that did not happen, and the long-serving manager signed a new contract that will keep him in charge until 2026.
Since then, Le Graet has insisted that there were no plans to replace Deschamps and that if the France legend had expressed an interest in the position, he would have taken it..
Did Zidane make an attempt to contact me? Of course not, I wouldn’t have answered the phone.’ RMC Sport spoke with Le Graet. ‘To tell him to find another club? Create a unique program to help you find a club or a national team..
‘I don’t care, he can go wherever he wants,’ he added. He can go wherever he wants, whether it’s a club or a national team, and I’m not sure I believe him.
‘Zidane was always on the outside looking in. He had a large following, some of whom were waiting for Deschamps to leave. But who can seriously fault Deschamps? Nobody can.
‘I’ve never seen Zidane, and we’ve never considered splitting from Didier Deschamps.
Mbappe was unimpressed by Le Graet’s remarks, tweeting: ‘Zidane is France, we don’t disrespect the legend like that…’
France’s Minister for Sports, Amelie Oudea-Castera, has also hit out at Le Graet for what he said, tweeting: ‘Yet more out-of-touch comments, and on top of that a shameful lack of respect, which hurts us all, towards a legend of football and sport as a whole: the president of the biggest sporting federation in France should not be saying that. Please accept my apologies for this inappropriate comment on Z. Zidane..
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