Kylian Mbappe's Olympics plans confirmed by French president

France president Emmanuel Macron has confirmed Kylian Mbappe still hopes to play in this summer's Olympic Games in Paris.

Mbappe is widely expected to swap Paris Saint-Germain for Real Madrid this summer but talks had been complicated by the French forward's desire to compete at the Olympics — understands Mbappe was not initially prepared to compromise on his wish to play at the tournament this summer.

Madrid, however, have already informed the French Football Federation that they will not be releasing any of their players for the tournament, which is not officially recognised by FIFA and therefore cannot force clubs to send their players.

According to Macron, Mbappe has not yet given up on his plan to represent France this summer.

«I found myself on the pitch with his father last week and I asked him the question,» Macron told . «He told me, '[Mbappe] wants to do the Olympics'.

»I really hope that all European clubs will give this freedom to their players. I am pleased that all French clubs are doing this and I hope that the others will follow. That's the Olympic spirit."

Madrid do not want to risk any injuries to their players by allowing them to attend the Olympics, which runs across the typical pre-season period. The gold medal match is currently booked for August 9, seven days before the 2024/25 La Liga campaign is due to begin.

Any player attending the Olympics would obviously miss pre-season and would likely need some time after the tournament to recover, further delaying their integration into the Madrid setup.

One potential workaround for Mbappe, whose exit from PSG has not even been confirmed officially at this point, could be to delay an announcement on his future until after the Olympics, allowing him to attend the