Inter Milan Star Receives Call-Up To France Squad After Injury To Chelsea Defender | OneFootball

Inter Milan defender Benjamin Pavard has received a call-up for the France national team after an injury to Chelsea’s Wesley Fofana.

This is confirmed by the France national team, via FCInterNews. They note that Fofana has dropped out of the squad after an assessment by the team’s medical staff.

Inter defender Pavard was not one of the players who France coach Didier Deschamps called up for Les Bleus’ Nations League matches during the international break that has just begun.

That marked the third international break in a row in which Deschamps did not call Pavard up.

Pavard had been a regular in the France squad, and starting eleven, for several years under Deschamps.

Pavard broke into the team at the 2018 World Cup. He was a regular starter in that tournament, including throughout the knockout rounds as France won the tournament.

Pavard then earned a move to Bayern Munich, where he played for four seasons.

In the summer of 2023, the Frenchman made the switch to Inter.

Inter Defender Benjamin Pavard Receives France Call-Up After Fofana Injury

At the World Cup in 2022, Pavard was part of the France squad. He started some matches at that tournament.

However, the emergence of Jules Kounde saw Pavard’s playing time start to go down.

Kounde is a player with a similar profile to Pavard. Like the Inter defender, he is capable of playing either at centre-back or on the right of a back four.

And Deschamps has begun to prefer Kounde as a starter.

The Barcelona defender was the starter throughout the Euros this summer. Pavard was in the squad for that tournament, but didn’t feature for a single minute.

Moreover, in general the France squad has significant depth in the defensive positions.

Therefore, Pavard has found himself out of the squad in the last couple international breaks.

That was once again the case this month.

However, Chelsea defender Fofana, one of the many top-level centre-backs that Deschamps can call upon, has suffered an injury.

The former Leicester City and Saint-Etienne defender underwent tests with the France medical staff. These confirmed a knee problem for him.

Therefore, Deschamps has decided to instead call up Inter defender Pavard.