Kylian Mbappé used the eve of France’s World Cup opener against Senegal to back Michael Olise’s personality and game, and dayot upamecano was part of the same public conversation around the team’s attacking face. The France captain said Olise should be accepted as he is, while also defending the Bayern Munich midfielder’s French and his quiet public profile.
Mbappé on Olise
“Michael is introverted. He’s a man of few words. But his feet speak for him. Take him as he is. He’ll never change,” Mbappé said. The comment cut straight through the debate around a player who has drawn attention in France not just for what he does on the ball, but for how little he gives away off it.
Mbappé also addressed the language discussion directly. “We speak French now, and he speaks it well,” he said, before adding, “You guys in the media will never know if his French is improving because he probably doesn’t talk to you much. He doesn’t like that—that’s just how he is.”
Olise’s rise at Bayern
Olise’s profile has grown fast. The 24-year-old, born and raised in England, rarely gives interviews and is conspicuously reserved on social media, yet he has become one of the defining faces of FC Bayern and the French national team after an outstanding season in Munich. He is also being mentioned in connection with the Ballon d’Or.
That combination has made him a talking point in France, where his reserved personality and French language ability have been debated. Olise recently said he speaks mostly French with his mother, adding another layer to a conversation that has focused as much on his public manner as on his output in attack.
France before Senegal
Mbappé’s support lands at a useful moment for France because it came ahead of the World Cup opener against Senegal, with Didier Deschamps already having raved about Olise in recent days. The captain did not just defend his teammate’s character; he pointed to the football itself, saying, “He is the player of today and tomorrow. He has this elegance, this vision in his game. I get along very well with him,”
For France, the message is simple: Olise’s value is being judged inside the squad by what he produces, not by how much he talks. That leaves the spotlight on the pitch in Senegal, where his place among France’s leading attacking names will draw the same attention as his words off it.
