PSG players vote for captain, Mbappe gets only one vote
Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 23.08.23. | 13:28
Marquinhos will be the captain for the third season in a row
When he signed a contract extension in 2022, Kylian Mbappe believed that he will be the center of the project for years to come, or he was led to believe that. Among those things was the captain’s armband. But like those other things which was apparently promised to him and not fulfilled, the armband also remained an occasional honor. And after all which happened between the club and him in the pre-season, it was not expected that he will be a captain this season. But the results of the voting were humiliating for the French international. Arguably the best French player and leader of the team got only one vote, and that came from his best friend.
After arriving to PSG, Spanish coach Luis Enrique knew that Marquinhos was the team’s captain, for years. In fact, the 29-year old defender and Brazil international was appointed captain by all three previous coaches: Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, and Christophe Galtier, but nevertheless, the Spanish tactician decided that he won’t appoint anybody. Instead, he told his players to vote for the leader in the locker room.
"For me, it's very simple: I don't choose the captains. It's the players who choose. They vote and decide who represents them. There are four captains. As a coach, my experience tells me that it's not my job to choose captains. That would be the coach's captain. No, I want a players' captain" said Enrique.
Obviously, the players are satisfied with the second oldest player in the team who played more than 400 games in the jersey of PSG, and is the oldest in terms of years spent in the club (Marco Verratti comes second). Still, after the first vote, the players voted again on Tuesday by secret ballot and confirmed his role. The vice captains were voted in this order: Danilo Pereira, Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe. And RMC Sports revealed that Mbappe only received one vote and it was from his teammate Hakimi Achraf. So, his behavior during this pre-season also impacted his teammates, and not only fans and directors.
