MBAPPE
Kylian Mbappe put his impending transfer to Paris
Saint-Germain behind him as he trained with France ahead of their upcoming
World Cup qualifiers.
The Monaco forward is set to join
PSG on an initial loan deal before a £166million permanent transfer to the
Parisens next season.
But despite his future being up in
the air, Mbappe looked completely at ease on Wednesday as he was put through
his paces by France coach Didier Deschamps.
Mbappe was all smiles as he trained with his Les Bleus team-mates ahead of
their qualifying clash with Holland on Thursday. He was even pictured sharing a
joke with defender Layvin Kurzawa who he is set to join at the Parc des
Princes.
The 18-year-old linked up with the
likes of Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba, Alexandre Lacazette and Thomas Lemar as
France's star-studded squad geared up for the first of two qualifying matches -
they take on Luxembourg on Saturday.
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud,
Chelsea's N'Golo Kante, and Bayern Munich duo Kingsley Coman and Corentin
Tolisso are also included in the squad - though Barcelona's newest signing
Ousmane Dembele has been left out.
Mbappe's club team-mate Thomas Lemar
is also to leave the Stade Louis II. Liverpool officials have flown to Monaco to thrash out a £74m deal for Lemar
and are also prepared to offer Divock Origi on loan.
France are currently second in their qualification group,
behind Sweden on goal difference and three points ahead of third-placed
Holland.
But Deschamps insists he remains
calm over his side's situation, with four games still remaining as France look
to seal their place at Russia 2018.
'Why doubt?', Deschamps told Le Parisien. 'Twelve points remain to be distributed. First
place remains accessible. It is therefore useless to sound the alarm bell.'
He added: 'It (the Holland match) is
very important, without being decisive, because there will be three more
matches after.
'There is a legitimate agitation around - and it is up to us
to ignore it. It is not by going into Thursday with fear in our belly that we
will achieve our ends.'
According to reports in France,
Mbappe's transfer will be made permanent for £166m as long as PSG avoid
relegation from Ligue 1.
The obligation means that even
if Mbappe struggles to settle at the Parc des Princes or suffers a serious
injury, PSG will still be forced to fork out for the youngster.
The structure of the deal is to
allow PSG to skirt around Financial Fair Play rulings, after they signed Neymar
from Barcelona for a world-record £198m fee earlier this summer.
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