Sevilla’s Loïc Badé will replace Maxime Estève in France’s Olympic squad | OneFootball

According to Benjamin Quarez, Thierry Henry has called up Sevilla’s Loïc Badé (24) to replace Maxime Estève (22) after Burnley blocked the centre-back from participating in France’s Olympic campaign.

The Sevilla defender will reportedly join up with the squad on Wednesday in Clairefontaine as France continues their preparation as hosts of the competition. The France U23s have been met with numerous dropouts ahead of the tournament because FIFA does not consider the Olympic Games to be an official competition in the men’s calendar.

This means that clubs have the final say on whether or not they will allow their players to attend the tournament, and this has led to a situation where Burnley on the eve of the team’s first training session could recall Estève.

Similarly, it is why Kylian Mbappé (25) has reluctantly announced that he will not be able to play a part in the competition as Real Madrid have no interest in allowing him to play at the tournament.

GFFN | Nick Hartland