Earlier this week, it was reported that France will now have a new captain following the retirement of Hugo Lloris, with Didier Deschamps appointing Kylian Mbappe to that position.
At 24, Mbappe is way younger than many of his teammates, but his exploits for Les Bleus at their last two World Cups - including a hat-trick in the 2022 final - coupled with his young age made him a solid option for Deschamps especially for the long term.
However, the decision has not gone down well with all of Mbappe's teammates, namely Antoine Griezmann. The 32-year-old Atletico Madrid star has been a mainstay of the France senior squad since 2014, and has scored 42 goals in nearly 120 appearances for Les Bleus. Griezmann was also an integral part in France's EURO 2016 and 2018 World Cup runs, and as per reports from France, feels that his experience should have played a role in his being nominated as captain.
Instead, Deschamps decided to pick him as vice-captain and give his younger colleague the skipper's armband. As per the report from Le Figaro, this has caused Griezmann, who just turned 32 recently, to "seriously evaluate" his options in terms of whether he wants to continue playing for the team.
Certainly, Deschamps will hope that the player will opt to stay, especially with a dwindling number of experienced strikers available at his disposal. Karim Benzema announced his retirement in December, and Olivier Giroud will be 37 later this year, meaning that the AC Milan striker could be hanging up his boots sooner rather than later.
