Thierry Henry sends defiant message to Real Madrid over Kylian Mbappe's involvement at Olympic Games in Paris

The 2018 World Cup winner is currently playing his club football in the French capital, as he remains on the books of Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain. He is, however, running down his contract and is expected to head for Santiago Bernabeu as a free agent in the summer.

It has been suggested that Real will block Mbappe from joining up with a gold medal bid on home soil, with the 25-year-old also expected to figure prominently in his country’s plans at Euro 2024. Henry, though, is not giving up hope of reaching an agreement that suits all parties.

The Arsenal and Barcelona legend, who is now manager of the French U21 team, has said when asked about the Mbappe poser: “We still don't know where he's going to go. We know he's going to leave, so we'll see what happens. What we want to do is have the best team but we don't have certainties. Everyone wants to come, but whether that's possible...that's another debate.”

Henry added on Real’s stance: “It's always been the case. I knew how difficult it was going to be. I suspected it. It's completely normal, especially clubs abroad. It's the Olympics here, in France, the French clubs will be there I think to help. But for the foreign clubs, I suspected it. I never stopped at the first no. We will see what we can do, the decision will remain that of the clubs, since these are not FIFA dates. We will try to discuss, but it is not easy. We're going to try to talk, see what we can do. There are quite a few branches on the tree. We have to poll everyone. We're going to see if we can receive them. It's difficult to prepare because we don't have certainty. Yes, there are quite a few names that we would like to have. But we don't know when the yes will arrive. And if the player changes clubs...it's not easy, but we knew that would be the case.”

Mbappe has 75 senior international caps to his name. He has also registered 43 goals, leaving him five efforts short of matching Henry’s return for France and 10 adrift of Olivier Giroud’s record-setting tally for Les Bleus.