France coach Didier Deschamps has addressed the situation around Karim Benzema, insisting the Ballon d’Or winner will not rejoin the Les Bleus squad for Sunday’s World Cup final.
Benzema, 34, is one of several France players who had to be withdrawn from the squad due to injury.
However, he returned to Real Madrid training this week, with reports stating h rejoin the French camp ahead of the World Cup final against Argentina.
Deschamps, though, has squashed those rumours, insisting he will continue to work with the 24 players at his disposal.
“Some players have been injured and Karim Benzema is one of them and Lucas Hernandez got injured in the first game,” he said, as per 90min.com.
“From that point on, I have 24 players in my squad and they are the ones at my disposal, so I don’t think it is fair to those players to ask about players who aren’t here,” he said.
“It is not up to me to decide who comes to watch the game, former players or injured players, I focus on my squad and the players at my disposal.
“We have lost three Christopher Nkunku, Karim Benzema and Lucas Hernandez and I lost them even though they were in the squad to begin with.
“So now I am focusing on my 24-man squad and they are the ones I will have at my disposal tomorrow.”
Benzema himself posted a cryptic message on Instagram, saying “I’m not interested”.
