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Didier Deschamps responds to claims Karim Benzema could return to France’s World Cup squad.
Karim Benzema’s comeback to the France World Cup team has been downplayed by Didier Deschamps, who claims he is not aware of the escalating rumours.
Benzema had been dealing with injury issues before the tournament, and another setback caused him to withdraw entirely. Despite having the option to do so, Deschamps chose not to replace him.
The French striker was anticipated to be out for four weeks, but rumours in Spain on Monday night suggested he had recovered earlier than anticipated and was ready to rejoin Real Madrid in training.
Because Les Bleus didn’t replace him, Benzema is still listed as a participant in the competition and has, as a result, been connected to a sensational comeback to Qatar, if he can demonstrate his health.
But Deschamps has now rubbished suggestions the 34-year-old is set for a sensational return and insists he is happy with the players and squad currently at his disposal.
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Asked in a roundabout way about the speculation surrounding Benzema, Deschamps said: ‘Wow. Well, I’m not sure [what to say], that’s really not something that I’m thinking about.
‘You seem to know a lot about the situation but I haven’t really been following who has been saying what. I talked to Karim after he left and you know the situation, and we heard how long it was going to take for him to recover.
‘So I don’t really know what you’re trying to imply. I have 24 players in my squad and I’m happy with the squad I have. Some players are missing, [Presnel] Kimpembe and [Paul] Pogba are missing too, and of course I talk with them. But it’s up to you if you want to speculate and imagine scenarios. That’s not what I’m focusing on at the moment.’
In place of captain Hugo Lloris, Deschamps was accompanied by Aurelien Tchouameni for the pre-match news conference before facing Tunisia, but he laughed off claims that the media lineup revealed anything about his team selection.
‘No, he [Tchouameni] won’t be captain tomorrow,’ said the France boss.
‘You can try and guess what you like, but we don’t have to come with the captain to these press conferences every time because it’s quite tiring for a player to come every time. So I think it’s good to change things up a little bit from time to time. Hugo makes himself available for the game and of course I’m thinking about those issues and a number of other issues for the match.’