Kylian Mbappé has been excluded from promotion to Real Madrid

Kylian Mbappé (25) was cropped out of a photo from Real Madrid's latest advertising campaign. The Frenchman was missing from a photo released by the Spanish club today to mark the launch of its 'Artist Pack' collection.

Madrid announced the clothing line to make his charitable foundation's sporting and social projects for vulnerable groups more visible. The Frenchman's absence from the photo probably wouldn't have been noticed if Jude Bellingham, 21, had posted an unedited version of the promo on his Instagram (that image has since been deleted).

This story comes at an inopportune time for Mbappé, who is embroiled in an ongoing controversy. On Sunday, RMC Sport Information provided by Swedish media Aftonbladetwho had reported that a police investigation had been launched into an alleged rape at a hotel where the Frenchman had stayed earlier this week.

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Unlike an article later that evening, this report did not refer to Mbappé as the subject of the police investigation expresses. Mbappé's entourage told AFP that they did not know he was the subject of an investigation, while the Swedish prosecutor confirmed the investigation but did not mention Mbappé.

Mbappé reacted to this RMC Sport piece with the explanation “FAKE NEWS” and suggested that the timing of the story was suspicious and that his former club Paris Saint-Germain may have been trying to tarnish his image ahead of the hearing into their bitter pay dispute. PSG has blasted this implication and spoken out L'Equipe: “Frankly, it's shameful. We'll ignore it and keep our class.”

GFFN | Nick Hartland