Struggling captain Mbappé is once again left out of the France squad

Kylian Mbappé, who is trying to make an impact at Real Madrid, has once again been left out of the France squad.

The captain was not included in coach Didier Deschamps’ list of players for the Nations League matches against Israel and Italy on Thursday. Mbappé also could not attend the previous meeting due to a minor hip injury.

Deschamps said, however, that this time Mbappé was not injured and wanted to be selected.

“It’s my responsibility to decide. I think it’s better this way,” Deschamps said.

He did not elaborate on his choice to go without the striker but said it was unrelated to recent reports in the Swedish media that the former Paris Saint-Germain star was the subject of a rape investigation.

“I’m not going to argue,” Descamps said. “What I can tell you are two things. The first is that Kylian wants to come. And secondly, since the presumption of innocence exists and should exist, it’s not the extra sporting issues that come into play. “This is a one-time election for this meeting.”

Mbappé’s performance has been below average in recent weeks following his transfer from PSG to Madrid this summer. His struggle to adapt to his new team’s style of play has coincided with a difficult run of form for the Spanish club globally.

Mbappé was invisible during last month’s 4-0 El Clasico defeat against Barcelona and was not a factor in this week’s 3-1 defeat to AC Milan in the Champions League.

Mbappé has not added a new goal to the 48 goals he has scored for France since June.

Deschamp’s absence from the squad last month became controversial when he started a Spanish league game for Madrid, following harsh criticism from fans.

During his time away from club and country, where France beat Israel and Belgium in the Nations League, Mbappé visited Stockholm. Swedish media later reported that she was the subject of a rape investigation. His legal team rejected these reports as false. Swedish prosecutors issued a brief statement on Tuesday saying a rape had been reported to police but did not name any suspects.

France will face Israel in Paris on November 14 and travel to Italy three days later.