After picking up an injury against Osasuna in La Liga on the 21st of February, Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe was ruled out for a few weeks. 

The Frenchman made his return on the 17th of March with a 21-minute cameo in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 clash away to Manchester City. This was followed by 26 minutes in the Madrid derby win on Sunday evening. 

Despite this injury and another one earlier this season, Mbappe has clocked nearly 3000 minutes across all competitions in 25/26. Yet, questions have been raised over his commitment to the team. 

Indeed, with some fans suggesting that the 27-year-old "picks and chooses" when to play, and is saving himself for the World Cup with his native France in North America this summer. 

Well, it is clear those claims have hurt the forward, as he has strongly denied anything of the sort. When recently speaking with Diario AS, he was asked how he would manage his minutes in a World Cup year. 

His response was: "This is not a debate, I've played two World Cups - I won one, and I reached the final in the other. How did I prepare? By playing all the matches with my club. For me, it's very clear that I want to play all the matches with Real Madrid. 

This debate is a joke. I prepared for my last two World Cups in the best way possible, which is by playing, scoring goals, winning titles, and fighting until the last minute with my club, and I will do the same this year." 

A strong claim from Mbappe. Sure, he was never going to admit anything different, but you can tell the claims to the contrary annoy him, implying it is ridiculous to think Real Madrid is not a priority in any way. 

Although there had been reports that France manager Didier Deschamps would not call him up during the international break to allow him to fully rest and recover, he was indeed called up for the friendlies with Brazil and Croatia. 

In fact, Mbappe will be in action against Vinicius as soon as Thursday, when their national sides lock horns in the USA at 16:00 ET. That is certainly a game of interest to all Los Blancos supporters, even if it's just an international friendly. Fingers crossed for no injuries in that one. 

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