Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines (France) (AFP)

The Blues return to Clairefontaine on Monday to prepare the reception of Albania and Andorra in qualifying for the Euro-2020, a special start for the newcomer Jonathan Ikoné and the experienced Samuel Umtiti, drafted after the package of Aymeric Laporte.

The players of Didier Deschamps are expected in the middle of the afternoon in their base camp Yvelines, with a first training scheduled at 17:00 in front of the press. And the last-minute guest is called Umtiti.

The 25-year-old world champion, again replacing on Saturday with Barça, had to pack his bags at the last moment to replace the accursed Laporte, right knee injured this weekend with Manchester City.

Umtiti had kept the confidence of the coach at the last rallies of March and June, despite playing time in a club already starved. But not this time. "Time passes (...), the team of France goes ahead, what happens today or in a month, two months, it may not be the same situation", Deschamps had justified himself on Thursday, saying it was sometimes necessary to "put some oxygen" among the Blues.

The exit of Laporte on stretcher, grimacing face, however, changed the plans of the coach, forced to remember Umtiti in likely lining Clément Lenglet, his partner and competitor in Catalonia who seems on pole to accompany Raphael Varane in the central hinge.

The fate seems in any case to bait on Laporte, the defender of the Citizens often snubbed by Deschamps despite performances noted with the double champion club of England. He had been asking for more than two years to come back in France team, his last convocation going back to March 2017.

"Very happy to be called to the National Team! It proves that everything comes to the point who can wait," enthused the former player Athletic Bilbao after seeing his name finally checked in the list of Basque technician .

- Hernandez back -

If Laporte will have to be patient again, this will not be the case of Ikoné, called for the first time among A to 21 years.

The Lillois benefits from the package of Kylian Mbappé on the right wing, but also from the absence of strikers Florian Thauvin, Ousmane Dembele or Anthony Martial, all injured or in the recovery phase.

The former international Espoirs will of course want to convert his interim into a long-term commitment and he will have to convince Deschamps, who has already praised "his specific qualities of speed and provocation", as his "efficiency" as passer and scorer.

In Clairefontaine, he will find his club partner Mike Maignan, again called instead of Steve Mandanda, Marseille goalkeeper who pays for the last months little removed and probably his old age (34 years).

For the rest, Deschamps did in the classic for the first list of the season, that of the An-II world champions. Captain Hugo Lloris, Raphaël Varane and Benjamin Pavard stand in front of him, Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi in the middle, Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann on offense.

In this September, N'Golo Kanté, Tanguy Ndombélé and Ferland Mendy, either injured or in recovery, are missing. Lucas Hernandez, operated on one knee in April and absent from the Blues since last fall, is back.

The French team will alternate training phases and media activities until Saturday, day of match against Albania at the Stade de France. It will then challenge Tuesday, September 10, the modest selection of Andorra, which it swept 4-0 in June, still in Saint-Denis.

Before the restart, the Blues occupy the first place in group H with nine points, as much as Turkey and Iceland but with a better goal difference. Albania are three lengths behind the top three, while Andorra closes the race with no points.

© 2019 AFP