Thuram, Fofana, Samba: who are the three novices selected by Didier Deschamps in the France team

Europe 1 with AFP 18:40 p.m., March 16, 2023

Didier Deschamps has injected new blood into the France team with the call-up of three novices for Euro 2024 qualifying. Defender Wesley Fofana, midfielder Khéphren Thuram and Lens goalkeeper Brice Samba will make their debut with the Blues. Never capped in the youth selections, the latter is summoned for the first time at 28 years old, a reward both for his past experience and his current form in the best defense of Ligue 1.

", , , , , , , - - !" #FierDEtreLensois#FiersDEtreBleuspic.twitter.com/sAE4RkFn0r

— Racing Club de Lens (@RCLens) March 16, 2023

The Congo-born player was trained in Normandy, Evreux and Le Havre, like Steve Mandanda, whose understudy he was then at Olympique de Marseille. He took off in the English second division in the cage of Nottingham Forest (2019-2022). Despite the rise to the Premier League, Samba chose to return to France, to Lens, where he quickly became one of Bollaert's darlings.

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"At maturity"

"He is a goalkeeper who is mature today, and there he has taken with the club a higher dimension," commented Thursday his coach Franck Haise to the press, evoking a call-up "amply deserved compared to everything he gives, everything he releases, and all his 'perfs'".

Good on his line, reliable in his footwork, known for his spectacular one-handed saves, Samba doubled Alban Lafont, the Nantes goalkeeper selected (without playing) last September. "Brice, there is everything that speaks for him, which does not mean that Alban does not. I made this choice to see him on a daily basis for ten days," Didier Deschamps said Thursday.

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Wesley Fofana, from the "blues" to the Blues

Closely followed by Deschamps for a long time, Wesley Fofana would probably have discovered the Château de Clairefontaine a little earlier if he had not suffered a serious knee injury in October. At that time, the former Stéphanois had just arrived at Chelsea in the shoes of a potential holder, for more than 80 million euros, and believes in the World Cup. But everything is falling apart: the central defender will not play in competition again until mid-February.

Already suffering a broken leg (fibula) in the summer of 2021 with Leicester, the player hopes to finally get out of the negative spiral of injuries. Back in force in the starting eleven of Chelsea in recent weeks, he takes advantage of the international retirement of Raphael Varane and the injuries of Presnel Kimpembe and Lucas Hernandez to fight his way in the selection.

Taulier of the team of France Espoirs, which Deschamps promised to strengthen in June for the Euro of the category, the 22-year-old defender may have validated in the meantime a first selection in A. This would deprive him of the opportunity to play for Côte d'Ivoire, of which he is a national.

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Khéphren Thuram, with family

In the Thuram family, there was first Lilian, the 1998 world champion with 142 caps, then his eldest son Marcus, the striker of Mönchengladbach present at the 2022 World Cup, and now Khéphren, the youngest son. "They have the same dad, the same mom, but it can be two totally different characters" and their summons responds above all to a "sporting logic," commented Deschamps.

At only 21 years old, the recuperator has established himself as a strong link in the midfield of OGC Nice, of which he has played all the matches this season, largely as a starter. The number 19 with the large size (1.92 m and 82 kg), recognizable by his long braids, already knows the national training center of Clairefontaine like the back of his hand: he has evolved in almost all the youth selections, piling forty-five caps including the Espoirs.