Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe is showing no sign of worry or anger after his name came up in a blackmail affair engulfing his France teammate Paul Pogba.
Pogba claims he is the victim of a multi-million euro blackmail plot to discredit him by claiming he asked a witch doctor to cast a spell on Mbappe. Pogba denies the accusation.
PSG boss Christophe Galtier said Tuesday that Mbappe appears unperturbed by the story.
"Kylian seems to be in a good place. I heard what happened with Paul Pogba. He is showing no sign of irritation or worry with regards to that," he said.
Earlier Monday, French prosecutors were investigating the allegations made by Pogba against his brother and childhood friends.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said it opened an investigation earlier this month into attempted organized extortion, which is being handled by anti-corruption police. It would not provide further details involving an ongoing investigation.
Public broadcaster France-Info reported that Pogba told police that a group of childhood friends demanded 13 million euros ($13.04 million) from him and repeatedly intimidated him, claiming he didn’t support them after he became an international football star.
When the group approached Pogba about their demand at the Juventus training center in Turin, he said his brother Mathias Pogba was among them, according to France-Info.
The case became public after Mathias Pogba posted a video and tweets this weekend threatening to share "explosive revelations" about his brother and Mbappe.
In response, Paul Pogba issued a statement through his lawyer that said his brother's claims were "in addition to threats and extortion attempts by an organized gang against Paul Pogba."
A 29-year-old midfielder, Paul Pogba won the World Cup with France in 2018 and returned this summer to Juventus after six seasons at Manchester United.
The 32-year-old Mathias Pogba is also a football player who spent most of his career with lower-tier teams in England and other European countries.