Mbappé was about to make the decision this season, catastrophe: 'I'm leaving...'

Kylian Mbappé hasn't had a season that met the desired standards of all Madridists. His performance during the current soccer season left much to be desired, especially during the first half of the campaign, leading to multiple rumors about his future at the white club.

After the Christmas break, the Bondy forward slowly began to reconnect with his best form. That upward trajectory has allowed him to achieve, as the most notable accomplishment of his first year as a Madridist, the Golden Boot. The award for the top scorer in European soccer's elite, however, isn't enough for a player of his caliber.

That's why he's taking a different approach now that Xabi Alonso is in charge of the first team since the Club World Cup. The goal isn't just to return to his best numbers, which, coincidentally, were seen while he played for PSG. The white '9' also wants to avoid returning to his worst moments in 2024, when he was close to making an almost irreversible decision.

Information published by Romain Molina reveals that Kylian Mbappé was considering announcing his retirement from the French national team. The French journalist points out that the merengue '9' thought about quitting his national team during the months of October and November, when he was left out of the international breaks.

On the verge of ending everything

Physical and mental reasons kept Kylian Mbappé away from the group coached by Didier Deschamps at the end of 2024, just when he also wasn't delivering great performances with Real Madrid. The combination of those negative circumstances, along with the pressure of his change of team and the expectations associated with his performance as a Madridist, almost changed everything.

Fortunately, France's '10' changed his mind at the last moment and decided to stay away from the national team until he was in top form. The passage of time proved that Mbappé was perfectly capable of overcoming the emotional and competitive slump he was in: he's in the process of regaining his best level.

The loss of confidence in his abilities as a footballer and leader of a locker room almost caused Kylian Mbappé to end his international career prematurely. The individual improvement he experienced during the second half of the 24/25 campaign, with many reservations, has been crucial to avoiding that fate.

As things stand, Kylian Mbappé is back with France. While it's true that he couldn't beat Spain in the Nations League semifinals, he has another opportunity. In addition to the third-place match against Germany, the 2026 World Cup is the key event after what happened in Qatar.