Mbappe casts doubt on knee narrative
Kylian Mbappe has criticised "false" reports concerning his knee injury, saying he is capable of playing every game for Real Madrid between now and the World Cup.
At the start of March, Madrid revealed Mbappe had aggravated a knee issue that he originally suffered in December but said he would not undergo surgery.
Having missed five games, the France captain returned from the bench in the second leg of Madrid's Champions League last-16 success against Manchester City.
He appeared as a substitute again on Sunday as Alvaro Arbeloa's men held on to beat cross-city rival Atletico Madrid 3-2, even after Federico Valverde was sent off late on.
Mbappe has been called up by Didier Deschamps ahead of France's friendlies against Brazil and Colombia this month, with Arbeloa forced to field questions about his inclusion ahead of the Atleti game.
But speaking to AS, Mbappe insisted he is ready to help Madrid for the remainder of the campaign, before looking to win the World Cup for a second time with his national team.
"My knee is fine. It's getting better," Mbappe said. "It's going quite well, and I know there's been a lot of speculation about it and some false things have been said.
"It's the life of a top athlete, and we're used to people saying things without verifying them or having any basis in fact.
"I prepared for the last two World Cups in the best way possible, which is to play, score goals, win titles, and fight until the last minute for my club, and this year I am going to do the same to arrive in top form."
Mbappe has been in typically devastating form for his club this season, despite his injury issues.
He has scored 38 goals and provided five assists in just 35 matches since the end of last year's Club World Cup, with only Harry Kane (48 goals, five assists) scoring more goals or supplying more total goal involvements in that time, among players from Europe's top five leagues.
France's two upcoming games are being played in the United States, as they meet Brazil in Foxborough on Thursday before taking on Colombia in Landover.
They will participate in two more pre-World Cup friendlies in June, one against Ivory Coast and another against an unspecified European nation, before kicking off their Group I campaign against Senegal on 16 June.
