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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Ben Hayward

Thomas Tuchel on Zinedine Zidane's Kylian Mbappe praise: Sometimes you love the things you can't have

Tuchel: "Sometimes the players you love the most are the ones you cannot have." (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel has responded to Zinedine Zidane after the Real Madrid boss said he was 'in love' with forward Kylian Mbappe.

Zidane was asked about his compatriot, a long-time transfer target for Los Blancos, and responded in glowing terms in his press conference on Monday.

"I'm in love with him," he said. "First of all as a person. He came here for a trial (as a youngster), I can't say anything else."

Later on Monday, Tuchel also spoke to the media ahead of Tuesday night's Champions clash between Madrid and PSG at the Santiago Bernabeu.

"I don't know how much love Zidane has for Mbappe," he said. "For us, he is the most important player. We are very happy he is with us."

And he added: "Sometimes, that's the way it is. Sometimes, you love the things you can't have. Unfortunately for Zidane, he is our player and I think he also has a lot of players he is in love with in his team."

Asked if he thought Mbappe would go on to play for Real Madrid, the German laughed.

"That's a difficult question for me because I am coach of PSG and he's our player," he said.

"We try to create an atmosphere around him and I wouldn't like to think about a future with Mbappe away from PSG."

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