Step aside Macron, Mbappe receives votes in French presidential election

French president Emmanuel Macron secured a narrow victory over Marine Le Pen in last Sunday's presidential election, but an unexpected name turned up in some of the ballots. Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe reportedly received a small number of votes despite not being one of the presidential candidates.

Macron's re-election bid however, did see his name get connected to the French footballer. A few months ago, French media reported that the president had been keen on helping the club convince Mbappe to renew his contract and stay with the Parisian club.

"We must fight for him to stay in Ligue 1 and remain at PSG because he is a great player. It is a pleasure to have him here in France," said Macron at the time. He was referring to Mbappe's ongoing transfer saga, which has him in the middle of a tug-of-war between his current club and Spanish giants Real Madrid.

According to Marca, some of the votes for Mbappe came from the village of Tallenay. At least 10 votes were cast for Mbappe from among the area's small population of 400 people.

The town mayor confirmed the news, saying: "We saw one come out, then two, then three.... it was very well done, they looked like real ballots. The name had not been scribbled quickly with a pen, but had been typed on a computer and then printed."

Clearly, the votes for Mbappe were not officially counted and among those that were, Macron had an advantage of 70% over Le Pen. Overall, the re-elected president won by a narrow 58.55% margin over his rival.

In light of the incident, the mayor then invited the player to visit the village. "If Kylian Mbappe wants to come and discover our village, he is welcome," he said.

Regardless of his unusual sudden involvement in French politics, Mbappe still has a massive decision to make about his future. His current deal expires in June, and it remains to be seen if he will make the move to Spain or renew with PSG.