Álvaro Arbeloa has confirmed that Kylian Mbappé is fit and available for Real Madrid ahead of Saturday’s LaLiga game with Real Sociedad.
Mbappé — who has scored 38 goals this season — had spent two days working in the gym, away from his teammates, this week, sparking doubts about the star forward’s involvement in the match at the Bernabéu.
Madrid go into the game just one point behind leaders Barcelona at the top of the table, while opponents La Real are on an 11-game unbeaten streak under new coach Pellegrino Matarazzo.
“Yes, Kylian is fine,” Madrid manager Arbeloa said in a news conference on Friday. “He’s trained with the group and he’s available for tomorrow’s game.”
Mbappé has struggled with a persistent left-knee problem in recent months — missing crucial games including against Manchester City in the Champions League, and playing a limited role in the Spanish Supercopa — and he trained indoors on Wednesday and Thursday at Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground.
However, the France international joined his teammates outside in Friday’s session ahead of the La Real game.
Madrid have won their last seven LaLiga games, while finding life more difficult in other competitions, losing 4-2 at Benfica last month to drop out of the Champions League top eight.
The club also made headlines this week after announcing that an agreement had been reached with UEFA, bringing an end to the five-year dispute over the breakaway European Super League.
“The club has issued a statement, and I refer you to that,” Arbeloa said. “It’s an agreement that’s very good for football.”
There’s been speculation about the future of Dani Carvajal, with the club captain having played just 27 minutes under Arbeloa so far.
“With Carvajal, like with everyone, I like to talk to them individually,” Arbeloa said, when asked if he’d discussed the situation with the Spain international.
“Every week we sit down on the sofa and we talk. I like to know what they think. He’s getting better all the time… The person most interested in having him at his best is me.”
