Essential element of the defense of Didier Deschamps, Presnel Kimpembe could be forfeited for the 2022 World Cup.
On the bench in 2018 during the World Cup in Russia, holder at Euro 2021, Presnel Kimpembe will he be there for the World Cup in Qatar which begins on November 20. For the moment, the trend is for the presence of the Parisian defender, but like Mike Maignan or Raphael Varane, uncertainties hang over his state of health, he who has only played an hour in the league since September.
According to the indiscretions of RMC Sport this Tuesday, November 8 on the eve of the list of Didier Deschamps, the name of Presnel Kimpembe is on hold. The last past examinations revealed a small crack in the Achilles tendon, but not enough to cause a package because the player feels able to hold his place. The resumption of collective training is scheduled for Thursday with PSG and he should be in the group that will face Auxerre this weekend as explained by Christophe Galtier.
Originally from Beaumont-sur-Oise in Val-d’Oise, Presnel Kimpembe grew up in a family made up of a Congolese father and a Haitian mother. From the age of 7, he put on a football shirt and took his first steps as a footballer with the AS Eragny club. Spotted for his qualities, Presnel Kimpembe joined the Paris Saint-Germain training center three years later. With the Parisian club, the young defender goes through the different stages of his training.
In 2014, at the dawn of his 20th birthday, he took advantage of a Champions Trophy match to make his first appearance on the score sheet. A few weeks later, he played his first official meeting with PSG, replacing Thiago Motta in a Ligue 1 match. In the process, he signed his first professional contract and permanently joined the dressing room of the first team of the PSG. Initially confined to the status of substitute (he played only ten games in 2015-2016), Presnel Kimpembe gradually managed to gain the trust of his coaches.
In 2016-2017, he is regularly associated with the Brazilians David Luiz and Thiago Silva to compose the central defense of PSG. He established himself, under the Unai Emery era, as one of the pillars of the Parisian team and distinguished himself on the European scene with, in particular, a remarkable performance against FC Barcelona in the Champions League, a match in which he successfully replaces the injured captain Thiago Silva and martyrs Lionel Messi, deprived of space. Having become an indisputable holder over the years, Presnel Kimpembe participated in the victory of PSG in national competitions (see awards) and in the club’s course in the Champions League. His qualities and his performances lead him quite quickly to join the France team.
With Congolese origins through his father, Presnel Kimpembe is one of those players who have to choose between two sports nationalities. First called by the coach of the Leopards (nickname of the Congo football team), the Parisian defender finally opted for the France team. With the under 20s, he played his first official match in the tricolor jersey in 2015.
In 2016, after a short stint with the hopefuls, Presnel Kimpembe was called up by Didier Deschamps. We have to wait two more years to see him honor his first selection with the Blues. Member of the list of 23 players from the French football team called up for the 2018 World Cup, Presnel Kimpembe is designated as the defensive starter for the Blues’ third group match against Denmark. On July 15, 2018, he was officially crowned world champion with his teammates. He is selected in 2021 to play the Euro with the Blues but dreams this time of starting in defense, after playing the role of understudy for Samuel Umtiti in 2018.
Presnel Kimpembe won his first trophy in 2015 with PSG and the title of Champion of France. He then took advantage of the capital’s sporting and financial superiority to accumulate trophies. Between 2016 and 2021, he won the French Championship 4 new times. During the same period, Presnel Kimpembe also added his name to the list of players who won the League Cup 3 times. In 2016 and 2020, he won with PSG during the Champions Trophy to fill his trophy cabinet a little more. A cabinet in which the Champions League is still missing, despite a disputed final in 2020, but where the famous individual replica of the World Cup appears. Within the Blues team, he indeed became world champion in July 2018, beating Croatia in the final.
With an annual salary estimated at 8 million euros, Presnel Kimpembe is one of the highest paid football players in France. With the equivalent of 670,000 euros monthly, the French defender is indeed in the top 10 of the highest salaries in Ligue 1. He is however ranked 89th highest paid football player in the world. In March 2015, Presnel Kimpembe signed his first contract as a professional footballer with Paris-Saint-Germain, where his first salary was “only” 8,000 euros gross per month.
In a relationship for many years with Sarah, Presnel Kimpembe is one of those rather discreet footballers when it comes to revealing his private life. Apart from a few photos published on social networks, the Presnel/Sarah Kimpembe couple only leaks little information about their daily lives. We know, however, that Presnel Kimpembe is the father of two children named Kayis and Kahil. At the birth of the first, in 2018, Presnel Kimpembe was confronted with the arrival in the world of a premature baby. However, everything went well and the entire Presnel Kimpembe family can now support the defender during his matches with PSG or with the France team.