A petition demanding the ouster of Kylian Mbappé from Real Madrid has thundered past 50 million signatures a few minutes ago, while the crisis in Los Blancos seems to be worsening – after Federico Valverde was taken to hospital following a confrontation with teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni on Thursday.
As Real Madrid prepare for El Clásico against Barcelona at Camp Nou on Sunday – a match where the club’s bitter rivals can secure the La Liga title – Mbappé has come under scrutiny.
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The France international, who was involved in a confrontation with a member of Madrid’s coaching staff before the match against Real Betis on April 24, has been heavily criticized for traveling to Italy with his girlfriend while he was injured.
Mbappé is still recovering from a hamstring injury he suffered against Betis, and many Bernabéu fans are far from happy that the former PSG star enjoyed the sun while the team struggled.
In this connection, an online petition demanding “Mbappé out” has gained momentum, and has then started the journey towards 60 million signatures.
All of this comes as Valverde has released a statement about his breakup with fellow midfielder Tchouaméni, and Real Madrid are preparing to launch an internal investigation into the incident.
As for Mbappé, respected Spanish football journalist Graham Hunter – who spoke before the news of Valverde/Tchouaméni broke – gave more details about the current situation surrounding Real and Mbappé.
In an interview on the Off The Ball podcast, Hunter, referring to how Real handled Mbappé’s hamstring injury against Betis, said:
“Kylian Mbappé came off the pitch and said, ‘I can’t take it anymore,’ and he was given a treatment plan. Under that treatment plan, given to him by the club, he was absent from important matches. And he chose to go to the Italian Mediterranean to go out and have dinner with his girlfriend, to be photographed on a yacht, a boat.
He continued:
“There was no face-to-face conflict with Arbeloa. What happened was that after last week’s win over Espanyol… Arbeloa said: “I keep telling my players that it hurts to see that all the other clubs have better running records than us. You have to do a dozen runs to get the right one as a striker. You have to work hard.”
“He said that Real Madrid’s history is not built on players showing up full of talent and wearing tuxedos. It’s about players who sweat blood, who come off the pitch covered in mud, and who compete. He didn’t mention Mbappé once. But everyone interpreted it mainly – not exclusively – as Mbappé.
“Mbappé has looked like he did at Paris Saint-Germain… there is discontent among the fans, the media, and at least the coach until he is moved again at the end of the season, and some of the players, when it comes to Mbappé’s work ethic.
“The blame is on Mbappé – not for all of Real Madrid’s problems – but for bringing the same attitude of ‘I’m Kylian, and that’s how I do things’ to Real Madrid.
“Right now, with the Clásico on Sunday, and medical tests to find out if he’s ready to start that game or not, it’s the cause of huge division, commotion and debate, not only in Madrid, but across Spain.
Despite all the drama surrounding himself and the club in general, Mbappé was seen laughing hysterically as he drove away from the club’s training facility on Thursday before the game.
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