Real Madrid receives bad news regarding Kylian Mbappé

Real Madrid have received bad news from France coach Didier Deschamps regarding Kylian Mbappé.

After years of speculation and failed attempts to land him from Monaco or Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappe has finally joined Los Blancos on a free transfer and was added to the squad on their official website earlier this week.

But before being presented at the Bernabéu, the 25-year-old has unfinished business with Les Bleus, who reached the quarter-finals of the Euro on Monday by beating Belgium 1-0 in the round of 16.

A meeting with Real Madrid legend and his childhood idol Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo now awaits him, but it is not the best tournament for the Ballon d’Or hopeful given an injury he suffered in France’s opening game against Poland.

Bad news for Madrid, Deschamps warned that Mbappe might need to use this item for a while.

“He’s going to have to get used to the mask,” the coach explained after Belgium’s own-goal victory. “He’s going to have to wear it for a few weeks, and he might have to wear it for several months.”

If the latter possibility does come to fruition, what is worrying here is the effect Mbappe has admitted the mask has on his ability to perform.

“Actually, it’s horrible to play with a mask. I’m constantly changing masks because every time there’s something that bothers me, there’s something wrong,” he said at a press conference.

“It’s quite difficult to play with a mask because it limits the field of vision, sweat accumulates.

“The first few days, I felt like I was wearing 3D glasses. As soon as I can get rid of this mask, I will. But now, I have no choice. I can’t play without it. I hate it. It’s really annoying and I’ve changed it more than five times,” he added.

Neither that scenario nor Mbappe’s surgery bode well for his first few weeks in Madrid, which are typically tricky for most new signings at the best of times as they try to adapt to one of the biggest clubs in the world.