A Spanish radio journalist has put the point more sharply than any Real Madrid official has in public.

“Mbappé enjoys being Real Madrid’s star striker, but he also believes he can do whatever he wants. Someone should tell him: this is not Mbappé FC, this is Real Madrid,” Antonio Romero said on air.

The commentary followed a report in L’Équipe quoting an anonymous source from inside the Santiago Bernabéu, carried in English by Get French Football News.

“After more than two years, we have the impression that he still hasn’t understood how Real and its environment works, nor the behaviour that you have to adopt,” the source said.

Read also: Lance Stroll’s unfiltered reaction over his radio in Sepang went viral

“He is very badly advised, in terms of image; it is a disservice to him as well as the club.”

8 goals, 2 assists, and a trust problem

The flashpoint is not form. Mbappé has 8 goals and 2 assists in his first 8 competitive matches of the season, numbers that at Real Madrid usually buy a striker all the goodwill he needs.

What has eroded the trust is image management around a knee injury picked up on France duty. Mbappé was photographed at a Paris nightclub during his recovery window, then posted a video of himself cycling in the Swiss Alps while still not fit to train normally in Valdebebas.

Around the same period, a quote attributed to Mbappé, that this year’s Ballon d’Or “is a good year to win it”, was picked up by L’Équipe’s source as evidence of an individual focus getting in the club’s way.

Read also: Florentino Perez wants him back – now Toni Kroos is preparing his big move

Mourinho’s podcast and the one-handed reply

The cycling clip landed as a direct provocation because José Mourinho, back as Real Madrid head coach on a three-year deal signed in June, had already drawn the line in public.

“You cannot ski. You cannot ride a bike. You fall off your bike, and you don’t play three matches maybe, or maybe worse, maybe you break a leg,” Mourinho said on the Bet It Drives podcast in late September.

Mbappé filmed his cycling clip one-handed, holding the phone himself. It went up on a Sunday, days later.

That exchange, played out in public rather than inside the dressing room, is what gives the L’Équipe source quote its weight. The criticism is not of a striker who is not scoring. It is of a player whose own people, in the club’s reading, are steering him away from Real Madrid’s institutional standards.

Read also: MotoGP chief: ‘Riders aren’t following the ruleset’

16 days to the Clásico

Real Madrid sit fourth in La Liga after seven matches, six points behind leaders Barcelona, who have won all seven.

The first Clásico of the 2026-27 season is at Camp Nou on Sunday, 25 October 2026, with kick-off at 9pm local time, confirmed by La Liga and the clubs.

Read also: Mourinho reacts to Man City guilty verdict: “We’ll be 80 before it’s over”