On Thursday night, France announced their official 25-man squad for the upcoming Euro 2024 tournament in Germany.
While former Chelsea players N'Golo Kante and Olivier Giroud have made the cut, Christopher Nkunku has not been selected by Didier Deschamps.
The head coach said: "Of course Nkunku could've been called, but he had a complicated season. He played some minutes recently.
"But it's maybe not quite enough. Christopher is healed, that's for sure, but he hasn't yet started a match since his return."
On Kante, he added: "He was last called up in June 2022, and what came afterwards was very difficult for him to take, given he missed out on the World Cup with an injury. Since then, though, he's rediscovered his athletic and footballing abilities.
"The situation was very clear in my mind — I wanted him to return to his best on the pitch, and in the meantime give some playing time to the younger players. I believe that the French national team is better with him, that's why I made the decision.
"Regardless of the situation, there’s never any issue when it comes to N'Golo. He's an angel, everyone loves him. There are no guarantees, of course, but I can tell you that he is very happy. I have no doubts about his strengths."
France's 25-man Euro 2024 squad
