Ethan Mbappé, 18-year-old midfielder from Lille, brother of France captain Kylian Mbappé, has been courted by the Algerian Football Federation, to try and convince the young player to join their national team, instead of France. His mother, Fayza Lamari, is of Algerian parents, which means that Ethan would be allow to play for Algeria (and also for Cameroon because of his father Wilfred's roots).
According to Fenec Football, the Algerian Football Federation (AFF) has already called Lamari to explore the possibility of him playing for their national team. Ethan has not been called for France since being called once for the U-16 team in 2021. The news has caused some controversy, naturally in France, as they don't want to lose a potential big talent for the future of the national team (after being sidelined most of the last season due to injury, he has already scored twice for Lille, including against former club PSG).
But it has also caused controversy in Algeria because, as reported by As, they don't like the policy of the AFF and coach Vladimir Petković
of looking for players abroad who have never played internationally instead of developing local talent. Besides, Algerian people have not a good image of France, following the long colonial occupation that culminated in a war between 1954 and 1962.
Luca Zidane, son of Zinedine Zidane (who many expect to be the next manager for France after Didier Deschamps leaves next summer) already signed for Algerian national team. Will Ethan Mbappé follow his footsteps?