Lyon (AFP)

Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar tested positive for Covid-19 and forfeited the Ligue 1 match against Dijon this Friday, putting his integration into the France team initially scheduled for Monday on hold.

It's a big blow for the OL star of the summer. Aouar, 22, was to end his fabulous month of August with a first appearance for the Blues at Clairefontaine.

He will undoubtedly miss the call of coach Didier Deschamps, who called him up Thursday for two Nations League matches in early September.

Aouar has officially withdrawn for the match of the 2nd day of L1 against Dijon, scheduled for 9:00 p.m. this Friday, shortly before kick-off.

"Olympique Lyonnais informs that they organized, this Thursday, August 27, a new test of all of its players and professional staff in anticipation of the match against Dijon at Groupama Stadium", explained the semi-finalist of the last League champions.

"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, "the text continues.

- Resumption in 10 or 15 days -

"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", OL said.

This announcement means that Aouar will not be able to honor his first summons with the Blues for the matches in Sweden and against Croatia (September 5 and 8).

"The unfortunate side for him is that he will certainly not be able, a priori, to go with the Blues, but it is only part of the delay for him", confirmed his trainer Rudi Garcia on the Telefoot television channel .

Due to the UEFA health protocol, in place for this first international gathering of the year 2020 and which requires the isolation of players who test positive, Aouar's arrival at the Clairefontaine training center on Monday is very compromised.

It's a disappointment for the young Frenchman, who spoke on Friday morning in an interview with L'Equipe about his "pride" in joining the Blues for the first time.

- Missed blue opportunity? -

Especially since Aouar, a regular in the Hopes selection (16 selections between 2017 and 2019), had already almost reached the Blues a year earlier, when Deschamps had been deprived of many executives ... But he himself was was injured in the adductors and Deschamps had offered a promotion to Mattéo Guendouzi - this one however did not have any minute of play.

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.

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 performances", was also justified the coach Thursday when announcing his list, stressing the " versatility ”of the Lyonnais.

If he had to replace him, Deschamps has several names among the regulars of his lists, such as Thomas Lemar (Atlético Madrid) or Nabil Fekir (Betis Seville).

© 2020 AFP