Failing to have been able to attend the return of Corentin Tolisso to the French team, OL supporters will be able to console themselves in front of the repertoire of the training clubs of the 26 blues summoned. For this rally in June, Didier Deschamps has actually decided to give very Lyon accents to his list, as rarely in recent years. Even if some presences are the result of other absences, they are four players trained in Lyon to be summoned for this Final Four of the League of Nations.
A Lyonnais nucleus composed of Pierre Kalulu (2000), Malo Gusto (2003), Rayan Cherki (2003), and Bradley Barcola (2002). The first, which comes out of an honorable season with Juventus Turin, became the 12th player trained in OL to be called for the first time by Deschamps en Blues (Cherki is the 13th). If he had been used to frequenting the categories of young people from French teams (40 selections since U18), Kalulu had to wait for his fifth season in Italy to join the Deschamps group. He could also be in competition with Malo Gusto, three years younger, who had already honored a selection in October 2023 against the Netherlands (1-2).
Only PSG places so many players with the Blues under Deschamps
After an encouraging second season among the Blues (he still has a C4 final to compete against Betis), the former Lyonnais was able to “take advantage” of the absence of Jules Koundé, wounded, to make his return to the A. like Kalulu, he is also in the FFF radars for several years, as evidenced by his 16 selections shared between the U16, U18, He will therefore find his promotion comrade Rayan Cherki, 18th OL player to be called by Deschamps since the start of his mandate (only PSG was as represented), and the first since Léo Dubois in 2021.
The future ex -Lyonnais, identified very early and used to being outclassed from a young age – sometimes even in front of 3 -year -old players – will therefore also find Bradley Barcola, one year older year. Unlike the first three cities, the Parisian was slow before making a place for the international level. Rarely outperformed in the OL youth categories, it was still quoted to be loaned to Ligue 2 or in Switzerland two and a half years ago. He had never known a selection before the U20s, proof that he was not necessarily one of the most obvious talents among the 2002 French. In young people, Adil Aouchiche, Arnaud Kalimuendo, Nathanael Mbuku or even Isaac Lihadji, seemed to leave with advance. Like what, football is always uncertain.
