France manager Didier Deschamps insisted Kylian Mbappe can play as a centre-forward even though some may call him crazy.

The Real Madrid forward was shockingly left out of France’s squad for November’s Nations League fixtures against Israel and Italy, but that didn’t keep Mbappe’s name out of the headlines. After refusing to elaborate on the omission of his captain, who is fully fit but in poor form, Deschamps did offer his opinion on the hotly debated topic of how to get the most out of the 25-year-old.

Following a 3-1 victory over Italy at San Siro on Sunday night – which saw Paris Saint-Germain’s Randal Kolo Muani start up front alongside Inter striker Marcus Thuram – Deschamps was quizzed on Mbappe’s best position.

“He can play in several positions,” the defiant French coach told Telefoot, “after that it’s a question of association. You might tell me that I’m ‘crazy’ to put him as a centre forward but he also played centre forward with his last two club coaches.

“He doesn’t have [Olivier] Giroud’s profile, of course, so it all depends on which team we’re playing against. When he’s in the centre, he has a preference for the left centre rather than the right centre even though I saw him at Real Madrid rather occupying the right centre. It’s a balance of positions [but you have to] always leave a lot of freedom.”

Mbappe ended the long-running transfer saga by leaving PSG to join Real Madrid on a free last summer. After a goal on his debut against Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup, the high-profile striker has struggled to live up to the lofty expectations which he set in Paris.

“He is in a complicated situation,” Deschamps said of Mbappe, who boasts eight goals in 16 games across all competitions this season. “He is supposed to find everything that he could have done very well even if he was also less effective [at times] in 2024.”

Real Madrid’s 4-0 Clasico thrashing at the hands of Barcelona was a particular nadir for Mbappe, who squandered a glut of chances and was memorably caught offside eight times. The Frenchman again drew a blank in Madrid’s dismal Champions League defeat to AC Milan before skirting around the fringes of a home win over Osasuna on the eve of the international break.

Despite overlooking Mbappe for France’s fixtures this month, Deschamps was optimistic that his captain would rediscover his best form. “I hope so and I don’t see why he wouldn’t come back,” the manager said. “He has a complicated, more difficult period, but he has everything to do what he did again.”

90mins

Nottingham Forest hope to have Ola Aina available for their trip Arsenal after returning from international duty with Nigeria ahead of schedule last week.

Aina has been in superb form this season, almost ever-present in Nuno Espirito Santo’s starting XI with Forest riding high in fifth place.

The right-back completed the full 90 minutes in the 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest prior to the international break and played 83 minutes for Nigeria in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Benin last Thursday.

The former Chelsea youngster was replaced late on, subsequently receiving treatment for an issue suffered in the match.

That 1-1 draw against Benin ensured Nigeria qualified for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations with a game to spare.

With Forest in direct communication with the Nigerian FA, an agreement was met to allow Aina to miss Monday’s game against Rwanda, returning to the UK late last week for treatment back at Forest.

‘Relationship is something that is key,’ Nigeria’s interim coach Austin Eguavoen said in an interview with All Nigeria Soccer.

‘I agreed, stating that if we managed to get a positive result in Côte d’Ivoire, we’d maintain our good rapport. We have alternative players available, so in light of this, it was important to sustain the relationship.’

An official statement from the Nigeria Football Federation added: ‘English Premier League side Nottingham Forest fervently requested that wing-back Olaoluwa Aina be permitted to return to the UK for their pivotal match, having already secured qualification for AFCON.’

Aina will be assessed this week with reports in Nigeria claiming the reason for his substitution last week may have been fatigue.

Forest head to north London to take on Arsenal at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.

Arsenal have been handed a fresh injury concern as Leandro Trossard was forced off during Belgium’s loss against Israel in the Nations League.

Mikel Arteta is already facing an injury headache with Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice both withdrawing from England’s most recent Nations League squad.

The Gunner’s injury headache worsened as Torssard was substituted just 37 minutes into the game.

That marks another tough international break for the north London side who lost Riccardo Calafiori and Martin Odegaard during the September international break.

Fast forward to the October international break where they saw injuries to wingers Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.

And now in November the gunners have seen Leandro Trossard hauled off and Ben White set to miss time, though the latter was not selected by England.

Speaking after Belgium’s loss, Domenico Tedesco confirmed the Arsenal winger was taken off due to injury, ‘It was a difficult game for a number of reasons.

‘The players we brought out had never played or trained together.

‘There were a lot of injuries before the game and we also lost Trossard and [Zeno] Debast during the game. It wasn’t a good game, but the conditions were very difficult.’

Trossard now looks set to join an injury list that includes Riccardo Calafiori, who has not featured since Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk in October.

As for White, the England full-back is set to miss up to eight weeks after he underwent surgery to help deal with a long-term knee issue.

Mikel Arteta is also without long-term absentee Takehiro Tomiyasu who has featured just once in the league so far this season.

It is unclear whether Declan Rice will return to the Arsenal line-up following the international break, the midfielder taking painkillers to deal with a broken toe so he could face Chelsea.

And if Arsenal are to be without Saka, then the injury to Trossard would be even more significant, leaving the gunners with just Raheem Sterling and Martinelli as their senior wingers.

It has been a mixed start to the season for the Gunners who have been hampered by injuries and red cards alike.

Arteta’s side have received three red cards so far with Rice and Trossard sent off in draws against Brighton and Manchester City respectively.

William Saliba was given his marching orders against Bournemouth as the Gunners suffered a 2-0 defeat at the Vitality stadium.

That has left them fourth in the league, nine points adrift of leaders Liverpool who have lost just once this season under new boss Arne Slot.

And with injury issues seemingly deepending, Mikel Arteta will need to get his side moving in the right direction sooner rather than later if they are to sustain a title challenge.