Is N’Golo Kanté’s France career over? | OneFootball

It has been over two years since N’Golo Kanté (32) last played for France and with each passing international break, it looks increasingly likely that the former Leicester City and Chelsea midfielder’s days in Bleu are over.

742 days and counting – that is how long it has been since Kanté last played for Les Bleus. The midfielder’s final season at Chelsea was blighted by injuries, however, Kanté has featured significantly for Al-Ittihad since making a summer move to Saudi Arabia.

Despite moving to the Gulf State, it wasn’t necessarily a case of out of sight, out of mind for Didier Deschamps, who insisted that Kanté was still “eligible for selection”. However, despite his chronic injury issues seemingly a thing of the past, a recall has not taken form.

Speaking back in November, Deschamps said he was “giving [himself] a bit of time” to consider Kanté’s reintegration ahead of this summer’s Euro 2024 campaign in Germany. However, the midfielder did not feature in Deschamps’ squad in the final international break ahead of the competition.

The door ajar at best

“It’s the last camp before the Euros. Of course, it is better to be at this one, but that doesn’t mean that it will be a copy-paste job in May,” Deschamps told Téléfoot on Sunday.

However, crucially, Kanté’s name is once again absent and given Antoine Griezmann’s conversion into a midfielder, at least at international level, the emergence of Warren Zaïre-Emery, the continued faith in Adrien Rabiot and Youssouf Fofana, and the high level of performance consistently shown by Aurélien Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga, it looks improbable that the former Leicester and Chelsea midfielder can force himself back in.

“I’m taking different options with younger players who are giving satisfaction too. I am not ruling out [recalling Kanté] but I’m making sure to anticipate and prepare for the medium term,” said Deschamps, who whilst not closing the door for Kanté’s return, has left it ajar at best.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle