No Christmas lunch for Kylian Mbappe! Struggling forward the only absentee as Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr & Co meet for Real Madrid's festive meal

The club posted photos of the party on their website, with stars like Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Luka Modric and women's team star Caroline Weir all pictured enjoying the festivities, with club president Florentino Perez also making an appearance. However, Madrid's marquee signing of 2024, Mbappe, was not present, with Relevoreporting that his absence was due to a fever and "general malaise".

Madrid finally announced Mbappe's blockbuster signing from Paris Saint-Germain in June, ending a transfer saga that rolled on for several years and dominated headlines in France, Spain and beyond. The French megastar has admitted that his start to life in La Liga has not been ideal, despite the fact that he's already bagged an impressive nine goals from 15 games for Los Blancos. Following the news that he's currently suffering from fever, we may not see him build on that record until 2025.

Madrid's annual Christmas meal was attended by every men's first team player except the under-the-weather Mbappe, and stars of the women's team like Olga Carmona, Weir and Linda Caicedo were also present. On top of that, members of the club's basketball team attended the lunch event. After the meal, the club's players visited the Sanitas La Moraleija University Hospital to hand out presents to local children.

Los Blancos face three more fixtures before the Spanish league heads into its Christmas break, with a trip to Rayo Vallecano on Saturday evening the next assignment. According to Ancelotti, Mbappe is unlikely to be available to start either that game or their upcoming 2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup final clash, but he hopes that after a "short period" out the Frenchman will be back before the end of the year.