Kylian Mbappe slammed after 'disrespectful' sacking of Caen manager Nicolas Seube with Ligue 2 club accused of 'forgetting values' since Real Madrid star's surprise takeover

Former Paris Saint-Germain forward Mbappe completed a surprise takeover at Caen on July 31, shortly after joining Real Madrid on a free transfer. Mbappe's company Interconnected Ventures purchased a majority stake in the Ligue 2 club via its investment arm Coalition Capital, with the World Cup winner reportedly pumping €15 million (£12m/$16) of his own money into the venture.

Unfortunately, Mbappe's investment has not yielded immediate success on the pitch for Caen, who have slipped to 16th in the Ligue 2 table at the mid-way point of the 2024-25 campaign. Seube paid the ultimate price for Caen's form as the club announced his sacking on Sunday, saying in an official statement: "After a year at the head of the professional team, Stade Malherbe Caen has decided to end its collaboration with Nicolas Seube."

The news of Seube's departure did not go down well with former Caen defender Brahim Thiam, who played for the club between 2005 and 2009. Thiam pointed the finger of blame at Mbappe and his family for failing to uphold the club's core values in a scathing rant to France Bleu. Seube also enjoyed a legendary playing career at Caen, and Thiam feels he deserved far better treatment.

"It's as if we kicked Nicolas Seube in the butt by telling him: go away! In fact, it's just disrespectful," Thiam began. "I'm not saying that Nicolas Seube, through his time at the club had a totem of immunity because the results are not good. But I don't even take that into account. I'm just wondering: is this the new Malherbe? Is it forgetting a little bit the history, the values of this club? This decision doesn't surprise me. I don't have the words to describe it. I call it a rag against a guy who deserves a big hat tip and who, perhaps, everyone will talk about to their children and grandchildren. Because I think that Nicolas Seube is probably the emblematic player of the last 30 years at Caen. I think that from the moment Pierre-Antoine Capton (the chairman of the club's supervisory board) sold 80% of the club's shares to the Mbappe family, Nicolas Seube's future was dotted. That's my personal conviction. The future would not have been made with him."

Caen moved quickly to replace Seube, with Bruno Baltazar having been confirmed as the Mbappe ownership regime's first head coach appointment. Baltazar will hope to get off to a good start when Caen resume their Ligue 2 campaign against Clermont Foot on Friday. Mbappe, meanwhile, is due back in La Liga action with Real Madrid against Valencia on the same day.