Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa on Saturday defended the involvement of French striker Kylian Mbappé, who gave up "a lot" to join the Spanish club in 2024 when he "had everything" at Paris Saint-Germain.

Having suffered a hamstring injury at the end of April, the captain of the French team trained normally with his teammates on Saturday morning and should be fit to play in the Clasico on Sunday against FC Barcelona.

The Madrid striker had been recalled last week for a stay in Sardinia, on his days off granted by the club, while his team was playing a Liga match against Espanyol Barcelona.

He was also targeted by the Spanish press for leaving the training center smiling on Thursday, just after a violent altercation between Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde, which caused a head injury to the Uruguayan midfielder.

"I don't understand why people want to take a player's smile out of training out of context. I think all Madridistas know the effort Mbappé made to come to Real Madrid, when he had absolutely everything at his former team. He had to give up a lot to join his dream club," said Arbeloa.

"We have all seen those pictures of Mbappé when he was little wearing the Real Madrid jacket. As I have already said, my authority is absolute, I control what my players do on the field, regardless of their name or the years of their contract," he continued.

Back from his left thigh injury, the top scorer for Real Madrid this season (41 goals in 41 matches) is being strongly criticized by the Spanish press and some of the Merengue supporters for his attitude deemed too individualistic.

AFP