OFFICIAL: Kylian Mbappe receives good news

Kylian Mbappe has received some much-needed good news, with confirmation that the rape allegations against him made in Sweden have been dropped.

The Real Madrid forward has endured a couple of months of turmoil. On the field, he has been dogged by a loss of form and now an injury problem to contend with, while off the park, the new signing from PSG had been troubled by these legal issues, which arose during the international break in October.

Mbappe, though, has been exonerated of the charges, which he had denied from the outset.

“During the investigation, one person reasonably suspected of rape and two cases of sexual harassment was identified, but I consider that the evidence is not sufficient to continue the proceedings and therefore the investigation is closed. The named person has not been charged with a crime,” senior prosecutor Marina Chirakova, the head of the preliminary investigation, confirmed via a press release.

Mbappe had immediately issued a “fake news” claim when the charges were first made public.

Speaking on Sunday to Canal+, he said: “I read the same thing as everyone else. The Swedish government didn’t say anything. I’m not concerned… It’s just incomprehension.

“It didn’t weigh on me, because I never felt concerned. There’s a lot of noise, but I’ve always had the same intention, which is to concentrate on my job and see how it ends.

“I learned about the claims when I was on the plane home, I had the news. I have no idea who the complainant is.”

Back to business for Mbappe

Mbappe is now free to concentrate on football, although he will first have to overcome an injury problem that he sustained during Real Madrid’s 3-2 Champions League victory over Atalanta on Tuesday.

He went off with a hamstring problem in the first half of that encounter, having opened the scoring with a well-taken strike.

Although there have been fears over the severity of the problem in the Spanish media, Carlo Ancelotti has played the problem down.

Speaking after the game, the Italian said: “It’s an overload, a discomfort in the hamstring. It doesn’t seem to be anything serious – we’ll see tomorrow. He couldn’t sprint, it bothered him a little and we preferred to replace him.”

Mbappe faces the prospect of having played his last game of 2024 for Real Madrid, even if the problem does not prove particularly concerning.