Two months after losing in the Euro 2024 final against Spain (2-1), the players of the French football team will meet again in early September to play two matches in the group stage of the new edition of the Nations League. To face Italy (on the 6th) and Belgium (on the 9th), Didier Deschamps will call up his group this Thursday. In this upcoming list, the French coach should notably call on Michael Olise. But he could also cut to the chase and leave out a defender, 2018 world champion.
The possibility of seeing Benjamin Pavard stay at home and watch the Blues matches from his Milanese sofa was raised by RMC. The media outlet notably suggested that the central defence sector was now almost saturated, with William Saliba and Dayot Upamecano practically assured of starting positions under Didier Deschamps, while Ibrahima Konate is pushing just behind. Other candidates would also seem well placed, including Axel Disasi or Wesley Fofana, rather in a replacement role for the two men.
Neither in the center nor on the right?
Disasi and Fofana would therefore be Benjamin Pavard’s direct competitors to grab the last central defender spot. And according to the media, the latter would not be the best placed. After having had a great season with his club Inter Milan, the 2018 world champion did not find his place with the Blues during Euro 2024, where he did not play a single second of play. He could therefore fall behind Disasi and Fofana. A new potential downgrade for the former Bayern Munich player after the Euro 2021 episode?
The hypothesis should not be ruled out. And even if he was used on the right during the famous 2018 World Cup during which he revealed himself to the general public, Benjamin Pavard now seems to no longer be a real option. Jules Koundé has definitely overtaken him in Didier Deschamps’ mind, and the competition embodied by Malo Gusto in particular, is knocking at the door. So all that remains is to wait for the coach’s verdict, which will be given on Thursday, August 29 at 2:00 p.m.
