At a press conference on Thursday, on the eve of welcoming Côte d’Ivoire in a friendly match, Didier Deschamps and Hugo Lloris returned to the position of Kylian Mbappe regarding the management of image rights in the Blues.
Kylian Mbappe wants to “move the lines”. During the France team’s career, the Paris Saint-Germain striker refused to participate in the sponsorship and marketing operations of the Blues on Tuesday, against the background of a protest against the collective management of image rights among the Blues.
Deschamps refers to Mbappe’s “excellent state of mind”
If the case is in the hands of the French Football Federation, which must negotiate with Mbappe’s representatives, Didier Deschamps is not worried about the sporting consequences of this case.
“There is not the slightest mishap on Kylian Mbappe’s state of mind or on the quality he can have in training sessions, that’s for sure, the coach swept this Thursday in a conference press release. I won’t go into the terms of the negotiations.. I don’t have the ins and outs about this file, And it doesn’t concern me.. It’s the responsibility of my boss, who should have told you, he’ll see him calmly with the player afterwards. Mbappe did what he had to do, in an excellent state of mind as often if not always.”
“He has such an important dimension in terms of his image that questions can be asked,” says Loris.
For his part, Noel Le Grat tried to come to terms with Kylian Mbappe on Tuesday but the player remained true to his convictions. In any case, the subject could move the life of the France team in the coming weeks. “There has been no negative impact on the group. It is clear that image rights is a very complicated topic in football or in sports, especially when you belong to a group. I have no doubts about the fact that a solution will be found between Al Ittihad and Kylian’s entourage,” commented Captain Hugo Lloris. Now, he has such an important dimension in terms of his image that questions can be asked. Solutions have to be brought to the inside of the Fed. The most important thing is that it does not affect the sporting balance and the team balance. But that is not the case so there is no problem.”
The delegation accompanying the 2018 World Champion is challenging the agreement on the transfer of the collective right to the picture that each international signs, before his first selection, and which includes special obligations to the partners of the French Football Federation. In return for this obligation, each player receives €25,000 for each match played. Mbappe signed it in 2017, but “this agreement has not been renegotiated since then and is valid for every player until the end of his career in the French national team,” his representatives explained in a press release sent on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe missed training on Thursday due to an ear, nose and throat infection. This Friday (9:15 pm), the Blues will have a date at the Stade Velodrome for a friendly match against Côte d’Ivoire. Then Mbappe and his colleagues head to Tuesday night, at the Pierre Moroy Stadium, to face South Africa.
