"Victim of muscle pain in his left thigh, the Manchester United defender underwent tests this Saturday which confirmed his unavailability for the last three matches of the season", specified the FFF, indicating that Konaté, finalist of the Champions League with Liverpool, would be "present Sunday in Split (Croatia) for the training before the match", before facing the Croats Monday evening (8:45 p.m.).

Varane, vice-captain of the Blues, had to leave his place at the hour of play against Denmark at the Stade de France, replaced by William Saliba.

The Blues, who were leading at that time 1-0, then fell apart, cracking in the last minutes against the Danes, winners 2-1 for this first day of the League of Nations.

The former Real Madrid captain (29 years old, 86 caps) is not spared from injuries this season: he has already been damaged for a long time in a thigh as well as in the adductors in the fall, missing the November rally with Blues.

This new injury must leave him on the floor between ten and fifteen days, according to the exams passed on Saturday, we learned from a source close to the France group.

Uncertainty still hangs over the state of health of Kylian Mbappé, touched in the left knee and replaced as a precaution Friday evening at halftime.

At 23, Ibrahima Konaté will finally discover the France group, thanks to a promising season with the Reds, where he held the position of defender for Champions League matches in particular.

He scored with a header in the home and away legs of the C1 quarter-final against Benfica.

French Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté gets the better of Manchester City striker Jack Grealish on April 16, 2022 at Wembley Glyn KIRK AFP/Archives

"Obviously I am, he is in a team that is playing for the title in the Premier League and in the Champions League, he has an interesting profile", underlined Didier Deschamps about the defender, when announcing his list, where he had preferred William Saliba to him.

"There are a lot of young players who are growing, so much the better, it allows the older ones not to fall asleep. (Ibrahima Konaté) has all the qualities of a modern defender, but William Saliba has them too."

In addition to the trip to Croatia, the French face Austria in Vienna on June 10, then again Croatia, in Saint-Denis, on June 13.

© 2022 AFP