Kylian Mbappé (25) has just won France Football’s award for French Footballer of the Season for the 2023/24 campaign, but it is no thanks to Karim Benzema (36).
On Saturday, France Football revealed the details of the vote for this year’s edition as the France captain retained his title for his exploits in what was his seventh and ultimately final season with Paris Saint-Germain. Mbappé won the award by a narrow margin of just five points, beating Arsenal’s William Saliba, who earned 51 points.
Mbappé also absent from Kanté’s list
It has emerged that Mbappé did not feature in Benzema’s top three. The former Real Madrid forward, now plying his trade in Saudi Arabia, voted for Eduardo Camavinga in first place, following by PSG’s Bradley Barcola and finally Saliba. L’Équipe understands that there is a “deep hostility” between Benzema and Mbappé, which explains the former’s decision to omit the latter from his list.
Interestingly a current international teammate of Mbappé’s, and a teammate of Benzema at club level, N’Golo Kanté, also didn’t vote for Mbappé. The former Chelsea man put Saliba in first, followed by Jules Koundé and Camavinga.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
