Kylian Mbappe vs Olivier Giroud is the Euro 2020 narrative that nobody expected.
Despite France entering the tournament as huge favourites to lift the trophy, recent developments in Didier Deschamps' camp go to show that all is not well in paradise.
That's because Giroud's comments on a supposed lack of service during France's clash with Bulgaria earlier in the week appear to have struck a serious nerve with his Les Bleus teammate.
Giroud vs Mbappe feud
According to the Daily Mail, Giroud bemoaned: "Sometimes you make the runs and ball is not arriving. Perhaps we could have found each other better, there it is."
Giroud's verdict on his fellow forwards clearly went down like a lead balloon because L'Equipe duly reported that Mbappe felt attacked and wanted to hold a press conference in order to respond.
And the initial murmurs of a feud were only fuelled by Mbappe's muted reaction to Giroud's goal against Bulgaria as well as a video that appeared to catch him moaning about the Chelsea striker.
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Mbappe appears in France presser
However, at the end of the day, the supposed 'beef' was ultimately confined to reports and videos that - although admittedly revealing - couldn't be considered 100% illustrative of a genuine feud.
Well, the key there is 'was' because after several days of speculation and filling in the gaps, Mbappe finally got his chance to speak to the world during France's press conference on Sunday.
And you certainly couldn't fault the Paris Saint-Germain forward for honesty; essentially confirming all the reports by way of openly giving oxygen to his disagreement with Giroud. Yeh, seriously.
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Mbappe goes public with feud
Mbappe thrust the dispute into the public eye by admitting that he was “a little affected” by the back and forth, before revealing that Giroud hadn't spoke to him about the issue in the dressing room.
According to the Guardian, Mbappe remarked: “He expresses a feeling when he speaks. I’m a forward and I’ve had that feeling 365 times in a game, when you feel like you’re not being served.
“It’s more about releasing it publicly. I saw him in the dressing room, I congratulated him on his goals, he didn’t say anything to me. I heard about it in the press. That’s more [important] than what he said – he didn’t say anything bad.”
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Mbappe added that he didn't want to make a “a big deal about it” and was keen to note: “We are here to represent France, that is the most important thing.”
'Mbappe has massively overblown this situation'
It was a set of comments that particularly bewildered Get French Football News, who are one of the most revered news outlets for French football in the England language.
They took to Twitter to say: "Kylian Mbappé has massively overblown this situation - bear in mind that Olivier Giroud NEVER named anyone specifically when he was talking about not receiving enough service. A really unnecessary distraction with a game on Tuesday now created.
"Why on earth did Didier Deschamps/the media team think it was a good idea to let Kylian Mbappé give today's press conference? The sort of PR misstep that was not made during the 2018 World Cup."
It certainly isn't an ideal build-up to an international tournament, it must be said, especially when there was no explicit confirmation that Mbappe and Giroud had settled their differences.
Only those in the French dressing room will know the true extent to which the feud is rumbling on, but let's just say that Les Bleus will need to focus on firing shots at their Euro 2020 rivals and not each other.