Three months after the World Cup final lost to Argentina (3-3, 4-2 on pens), the French team is attacking a new qualifying campaign with their sights set on Euro 2024 in Germany .
With the international retirements of Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda, Raphaël Varane and Karim Benzema, the injuries and/or malforms of certain important players (L. Hernandez, Kimpembe, Pogba, Kanté, Dembélé...), Didier Deschamps could decide to call some new ones.
Overview of these neo-blue potentials.
Brice Samba (28, goalkeeper, RC Lens): the
dented
As obvious.
If by their experience in Blues, Mike Maignan and Alphonse Areola are almost guaranteed to appear in the list, Brice Samba could discover the castle of Clairefontaine.
Selected in U19 but without having played, he was then called up by Congo in 2012 but will never wear the Red Devils jersey, leaving himself the possibility of one day wearing that of the Blues.
Passed younger by OM, RC Lens snatched him from Nottingham who went back to the Premier League.
Since then, the goalkeeper (1.87m) commands the best defense in Ligue 1 with 21 goals conceded and in 27 days.
Samba, author of 10 clean sheets this season, declared last October to Free Ligue 1. “
The French team?
This is my dream !
".
11 years after being called up to the U19s, he has never been so close.
Brice Samba (RC Lens) Federico Pestellini / Panoramic
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Pierre Kalulu (22, defender, AC Milan): the
all-rounder
Pierre Kalulu has never played with the big boys at OL.
His first contract is at AC Milan that he signs it and Jean-Michel Aulas has still not digested this choice.
In September 2020, the Lyon president even declared: “
He had to sign pro but, at the last moment, he left for AC Milan.
AC Milan sporting director Paolo Maldini told me he was probably not going to make it.
He left too quickly when we had made proposals to him...
“A speech that has aged badly because since then, Pierre Kalulu has enjoyed himself on the other side of the Alps.
He established himself in the Milan eleven and won the Serie A 2021-2022 alongside Olivier Giroud and Theo Hernandez.
The versatile defender, who has 14 caps with the Espoirs and participated in the Tokyo Olympics with the France team, can make his mark in a right-back position where Didier Deschamps is still groping.
It may be a bit tight for the March list, but he is on the radar of the staff.
Pierre Kalulu (AC Milan) Image Sport / Panoramic
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Jean-Clair Todibo (23, defender, OGC Nice): revenge
This Wednesday at a press conference before the meeting between his club, OGC Nice and Sheriff Tiraspol in the 1/8th return of the Europa League Conference, Jean-Clair Todibo seemed perfectly relaxed: “Tomorrow (Thursday) at 2 p.m., I will follow
this list and then I'll go take a nap
".
The central defender knows that he has come a long way and that his good performances since his arrival on the Côte d'Azur have, over time, made him a credible candidate for the Blues.
After an early departure from Toulouse, his training club, for FC Barcelona, the native of Cayenne got lost on the way.
Fierce competition in Catalonia and inconclusive loans to Schalke 04 and Benfica could have caused him to lose his footing.
His return to Ligue 1 in February 2021 transformed him and his time may have come.
"
It would be an honor and a pride to represent my country.
There is a long way to go and it will still be, so we will see how it goes,
” he explained to the press.
Now it's up to him.
Jean-Clair Todibo (OGC Nice) Norbert Scanella / Panoramic
Wesley Fofana (22, defender, Chelsea): the
express ascent
If Chelsea have put 81 million euros on the table to secure his services, it is because Wesley Fofana has everything to become a world reference in his position.
Although the former Leicester player may have played less than 100 professional matches and been seriously injured in the summer of 2021 (fibula fracture), he enjoys a very high rating.
The native of Marseille is part of the line of young French centrals combining physical power, tactical intelligence and technical skill.
Returning to competition in mid-February after a knee glitch that sidelined him for nearly 4 months, the youngster trained at AS Saint-Etienne was finally able to play a few games.
Didier Deschamps, who has already claimed to follow him closely, could be tempted to select him.
It should be noted that he also has Ivorian nationality and that
the Elephants
woo him bitterly.
His profile pleases Deschamps enormously.
Wesley Fofana (Chelsea FC) Al/Reuters/Panoramic
Manu Koné (21, midfielder, Borussia Mönchengladbach): the youngster who is rising fast and strong
The former Toulouse player is undoubtedly a complete stranger to the general public.
With only 14 games in the top flight in 2019-2020 with Toulouse relegated that season, the player didn't really have time to show his talent.
After a season on the lower floor, the child from Villeneuve-la-Garenne set sail for Germany and landed at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Ligue 2 and Bundesliga followers agree that the boy is steeped in talent and that a summons to the A's would be amply justified.
Capable of high-flying performances as recently against Bayern Munich, Manu Koné still needs to show more regularity in his game. Called up less than a year ago with the Espoirs by Sylvain Ripoll, the former Athletic Club Boulogne-Billancourt (like Khephren Thuram) could therefore discover the A.
Manu Koné (Borussia Monchengladbach) Imago / Panoramic
Képhren Thuram (21, midfielder, OGC Nice): the son and brother of...
Lilian, Marcus and soon Khephren?
If two Thuram have already worn the jersey of the France A team, a third could follow quickly.
Son of Lilian and younger brother of Marcus, Khephren is already a familiar face to Ligue 1 followers. Installed in the Nice midfield for three big seasons, he has gradually risen to become one of the best midfielders this year. of the French championship.
Launched as a professional by Thierry Henry one evening in the Champions League against Atlético de Madrid, the former Monegasque chose Nice to sign his first professional contract.
Clear-sighted, valuable defensively and capable of repeating efforts, Khephren is applying for a place with the Blues and could, like the Hernandez brothers, form a new sibling with Marcus in the corridors of Clairefontaine.
Khephren Thuram (OGC Nice) Al/Reuters/Panoramic
