Lyon (AFP)

Already deprived of Paul Pogba for the same reason, coach Didier Deschamps will have to do without the services of young talent from Lyon Houssem Aouar, tested positive for Covid-19 and unable to honor his first call to the Blues.

The withdrawal of the 22-year-old midfielder was little doubt after the announcement Friday of his contamination with the new coronavirus, the day after a new round of tests organized by Olympique Lyonnais with his players and staff.

The Federation formalized the news in the evening by press release.

Placed in fourteen by OL, Aouar "will therefore not be able to respond to Didier Deschamps' summons for the rally which begins on Monday" in view of the League of Nations matches in Sweden then against Croatia in Saint-Denis, on 5 and September 8, wrote the FFF.

The vacated place went to Nabil Fekir, also trained in Lyon and who now plays at Betis Sevilla. The 27-year-old striker was already present in Albania during the last outing of the world champions, in November 2019 before the long hiatus linked to the pandemic.

The blow is hard for Aouar, star of the summer at OL, who was to end his fabulous month of August with a first appearance for the Blues at Clairefontaine.

"The results received this (Friday) morning by the medical management of the club reveal that Houssem Aouar is the only player in the workforce to be declared positive for Covid-19. As soon as the results were taken into consideration, Houssem Aouar was isolated and put in fourteen while he is totally asymptomatic, "his club announced earlier, confirming the player's withdrawal for the Ligue 1 meeting in Dijon scheduled for the evening.

- "Postponed" -

"Olympique Lyonnais also specifies that the player's contamination occurred outside the club. Houssem Aouar will resume with the professional group in 10 to 15 days depending on the next control tests he will have to undergo", according to the semi-finalist of the Champions League.

Coach Rudi Garcia himself considered Aouar's absence from the first international rally of 2020 very likely. "But it is only part of the story for him," he commented on the television channel Telefoot.

For Aouar, a regular at the Espoirs selection (16 selections between 2017 and 2019), it is a new disillusionment after having already almost reached the Blues a year earlier. Deprived of many executives, Deschamps could not summon the Lyonnais, himself injured in the adductors.

A season and a semi-final of the Champions League later, Aouar could well dream of playing time in the jersey of the world champions, so much the N.8 of OL impressed Europe in Lisbon in August.

- Pogba also affected -

In the final tournament of the Champions League, he delivered a superb performance against Manchester City in the quarterfinals (3-1), having already been very prominent in the eighth against Juventus Turin.

Something to catch the eye of many European teams, and the national coach.

"He has a technical skill, he is also capable of scoring goals, and he brought more continuity to his performance," the coach had also judged Thursday at a press conference.

Deschamps is definitely not varnished for this first gathering of the year. On Thursday, he already had to urgently modify his list to cross the name of Paul Pogba, the world champion from Manchester United diagnosed with Covid.

This development made the business of Eduardo Camavinga, the very precocious (17 years old) midfielder of Stade Rennes, called for the first time for the Blues. Leipzig central defender Dayot Upamecano is also expected to be baptized at Château de Clairefontaine on Monday.

The surprise of the list, however, came from the summons of Adrien Rabiot, the midfielder of Juventus Turin that Deschamps had not called for two years and his refusal to be among the reserves of the World Cup.

© 2020 AFP