Euro 2020: Mbappe confirms Giroud feud but remains focused on tournament

News about a feud between French teammates Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappe exploded last week, with the latter reportedly offended by words spoken by the Chelsea forward. Mbappe has now had the chance to finally face the press to share his side, and to confirm that there was indeed friction between himself and his teammate.

"I spoke with Olivier Giroud. Everyone knows what happened. It is true that I was a little affected by it. But we are not going to make a big deal about it because we are here to represent France, that is the most important thing," said Mbappe, as he faced the press ahead of the Euro 2020 opening.

He spoke about the incident where the Chelsea forward complained about not receiving enough passes from his teammates. Giroud brought it up after he scored two goals off the bench against Bulgaria last week.

Mbappe has confirmed that he did not like the statement made by his teammate, after feeling like Giroud singled him out. Manager Didier Deschamps has since downplayed the feud, after he reportedly made efforts to calm Mbappe down.

"I congratulated him in the locker room, he didn't say anything to me and then I heard from the press. He didn't say anything bad. It's more the fact of talking about it publicly, I would have preferred to let him come and be even more vocal in the locker room," explained Mbappe, as quoted by Marca.

However, the Paris Saint-Germain forward insisted that he is more focused on the matches ahead, and won't be letting the friction get in the way of his performance. "That's not a problem, these are small trifles. The team does not need us to get in the way," he said.

Mbappe also refused to speak about his club future, with many fans awaiting his decision on whether or not he will extend his contract with PSG. He said that his mind is entirely focused on the national team at the moment, and talk about his contract will have to wait until after the European Championship.