French President Macron hopes Mbappe will play in Olympics

PARIS : French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday he hoped soccer star Kylian Mbappe would play in this year's Paris Olympic Games.

The France striker confirmed late on Friday that he would leave Paris St Germain and he has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid.

"I have no particular comment to make other than the fact that I am counting upon Real Madrid to free up Kylian for the Olympic Games so he can play with the French team," Macron said in a video posted on his X account.

Mbappe, 25, has played 77 times for France and scored a goal in the 2018 World Cup final against Croatia to help his team win the trophy.