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La Liga Kylian Mbappe has been suffering from a knee problem since early December Jose Breton/Pics Action/Nur Photo via Getty Images More than two months after Real Madrid’s last update, Monday evening finally brought some news on Kylian Mbappe’s knee injury. Sort of. A short Madrid statement said their star striker had undergone further tests in his home country of France, and that the results confirmed his knee is sprained. That was the same diagnosis Madrid had already shared in late December. The new statement also said the “conservative treatment” he had been following was still considered correct — seemingly ruling out surgery. Advertisement Madrid never publish the timeframes they expect for their players’ recoveries from injury, so it wasn’t totally unusual for them to end the bulletin on an abrupt note: “His progress will be monitored. ” But Mbappe’s case raises a few interesting questions that are worth exploring. To do so, The Athletic spoke with several sources with direct knowledge of how the Frenchman’s injury has been handled, all of whom spoke anonymously to protect relationships. Mbappe, 27, has been suffering discomfort in his left knee since early December. But he has still been playing, and scoring, quite regularly, before missing Madrid’s two matches over the past week — including the shock 1-0 defeat at home to Getafe on Monday night. As it stands, it is not clear exactly when he will be back — and Madrid desperately need him, as their season enters its decisive months. So why is there so little certainty about Mbappe’s injury? How is it being managed exactly? And could it have any bearing on his participation with France at the World Cup that kicks off in June? Mbappe has been dealing with discomfort in his left knee for almost three months. The first sign of a problem appeared after Madrid’s 2-0 La Liga defeat at home to Celta Vigo on December 7. Sources among the club’s coaching staff back then said it came about after Mbappe suffered a blow to his knee in that game. The Frenchman was then an unused substitute for the Champions League visit of Manchester City three days later, but he returned to play the full 90 minutes of all three of Madrid’s remaining games of 2025, eventually equalling Cristiano Ronaldo’s club record of 59 goals in a calendar year. Before that City game at the Bernabeu, the message coming out of Madrid was that he might be a doubt — but because of a fracture in the ring finger on his left hand, rather than anything to do with his knee. Advertisement The day before the match, that messaging changed. It was said Mbappe had muscular discomfort in his left leg. The Athletic consulted several sources with direct knowledge of the situation, before reporting that the 27-year-old was suffering knee pain. Mbappe was still in the squad against Pep Guardiola’s side, but he did not leave the bench during a 2-1 home defeat, despite some Spanish media reporting that then Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso’s future was on the line that night. Three days later, Mbappe did play in the Copa del Rey, in a 3-2 win away to third-tier side Talavera. This sparked debate, including within the club, about the possibility of his participation being managed to maximise his chances of surpassing Ronaldo’s calendar-year goalscoring record, which was set in 2013. When Madrid returned to work after La Liga’s Christmas break, Mbappe seemed to be in discomfort during their traditional annual open training session on December 30, and was seen touching his left knee as he spoke to medical staff. It was only on New Year’s Eve, 24 days after the problem was noted, that Madrid made their first public statement about his condition. It simply said he had been “diagnosed with a sprain in his left knee”, adding: “His progress will be monitored. ” Club sources indicated at the time that Mbappe would miss the La Liga match at home against Real Betis on January 4 and that he was also a doubt for the four-team Supercopa de Espana in Saudi Arabia in the following days. Mbappe did not travel with the group that initially went from the Spanish capital to Jeddah. The Athletic reported that Madrid left two physios behind just to work with him, to maximise his chances of being available for the Supercopa final on January 11 if they made it through their semi-final against neighbours Atletico. Advertisement Madrid won that match 2-1, Mbappe flew in, and he played 15 minutes as a substitute as they lost the final 3-2 to arch-rivals Barcelona. Alonso was fired the next day after less than eight months in the job. Mbappe’s short involvement against Barca came after a break of 21 days since the appearance at Talavera. But the pain had not gone away, and he did not play on January 14 as Madrid were eliminated from the Copa del Rey by second-division Albacete in new manager Alvaro Arbeloa’s first match in charge. Since then, he has played eight times, scoring nine goals. He spent one match on the bench without coming on (against Real Sociedad on February 14) and missed last Wednesday’s second leg of the Champions League play-offs defeat of Benfica, which Madrid won 3-1 on aggregate, after appearing to struggle physically during a La Liga outing at Osasuna the previous Saturday, though he played all of that 2-1 loss. That is the big question. After Mbappe missed Benfica’s visit last week, Arbeloa said: “It’s true that on other days he has felt discomfort and we decided to play, but after yesterday’s training we spoke with the doctors, as did he, and we decided that he should stop, recover, and come back with confidence. “It’s hard to tell the difference between discomfort and injury. Obviously, when someone isn’t playing, it’s because they’re injured. We can call it an injury. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s a matter of days and it doesn’t take too long, but he should take the time he needs. ” The treatment process adopted has been very careful. This has included reducing Mbappe’s workload in training. But when he has played in matches, he has played the full game each time — that Supercopa substitute appearance against Barcelona aside. Madrid certainly need him back as soon as possible. Advertisement Next Wednesday, City are in town again for the first leg of a Champions League round of 16 tie. Following Monday’s shock defeat by Getafe, Madrid are four points behind Barcelona in La Liga after 26 of the 38 matches. They are out of the Copa del Rey, fell short in the Supercopa and have not really looked like serious challengers in Europe over their 10 matches so far. “We’re taking it day by day, ” Arbeloa said of Mbappe before that Getafe game. “It depends on how he’s feeling. We want him back at 100 per cent. ” On Monday, Mbappe’s representatives said “no surgical intervention is being planned at the moment” following that trip to see doctors in Paris, where he was accompanied by Madrid fitness coach Sebastien Devillaz and physio Willy Zurdo. Sources at Madrid confirmed they don’t expect him to have an operation either — a position already implied in the club’s statement highlighting that “conservative recovery plan”. According to Madrid sources, there is no estimated time for when Mbappe will play next. One person who works at the training ground said he has days in which he’s felt totally fine and others where there has been a lot of pain, which would explain the course of action followed so far, as well as how the Frenchman has been able to make several appearances since the problem first appeared in December. Whether that approach changes — given that the issue has not gone away — remains to be seen. With less than four months to go until France’s World Cup begins against new Africa Cup of Nations champions Senegal in Met Life Stadium, just outside New York City, it would be natural for any international-level player in such circumstances to have some worries about whether they will be fit for the tournament, and this factor had begun to be commented on more internally at Madrid. Advertisement However, one dressing room source said on Tuesday that Mbappe was feeling “calmer” about the situation, now he had a “clearer plan to follow”. As for the question of any potential operation, two respected medical experts consulted for this article said it could be considered in cases where knee sprains are not showing signs of recovery, to avoid any potential worsening of the existing problem or a further injury. But both agree that is not the usual course of action — nor one that seems appropriate in this case. “In most cases, surgery is not necessary, ” said Juan Ayala, former president of the Spanish Society of Sports Traumatology and head of the knee and sports traumatology unit at San Rafael Hospital in Madrid. “If it’s a grade-one injury (the least severe), which is a ligament strain, or a grade-two injury, which is a partial tear, surgery is never performed. Conservative treatment is used. A minimum of three weeks’ rest is required for a grade-one sprain and six weeks for a grade-two. However, if the player has been playing, these injuries tend to become chronic and worsen the prognosis. If it does not heal properly, it may remain unstable and require surgery. ” Diego Garcia-German, an orthopaedic surgeon and doctor for the Spanish contingent at the recent Winter Olympics in Italy, has a similar view. “If Mbappe has continued playing, he most likely has a low-grade injury, ” Garcia-German says. “It may be that the injury has not healed properly or that it is not responding to conservative treatment. If it does not heal on its own, surgery may always be an option. But surgery is not common if we are talking about a low-grade injury. “This injury is probably a low-grade injury that’s causing more trouble than usual. From the outside, my impression is that the grade of injury hasn’t prevented him from continuing to play, and now he’s perhaps a little sore. If we’re thinking that it should heal on its own, because it’s being treated conservatively, we have to give it time to resolve. ” Advertisement Mbappe has scored 38 of Madrid’s 87 goals (43. 7 per cent) in all competitions this season. He has sat out one-third of their games so far in 2026 (five of 15). They need him back, but it looks like they (and potentially France, who have friendlies against Brazil and Colombia this month) will have to wait — without knowing for exactly how long. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle