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France boss Didier Deschamps has suggested Ibrahima Konate will play during the international break, despite the defender’s injury scare for Liverpool at the weekend.
Konate was substituted just 10 minutes into the second half of the Reds’ 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday. Despite looking like a tactical change at the time, with Ryan Gravenberch moving into defense alongside Virgil van Dijk, Arne Slot revealed there was more to the decision.
"What I do know is that he limped," Slot said. "He felt his quad a little bit. For me, alarm bells go off because in another sprint, you never know. It was already a sub I had in mind for a little later.
"It might be OK that he went off early enough, but it was clear I had to take him out because he was limping."
Despite the issue, Konate has reported for international duty ahead of France’s World Cup qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Iceland.
Deschamps won’t have long in between games, with his side hosting Azerbaijan on Friday before traveling to Iceland for their second game on Monday, and he is wary of the strain that could put on his players.
As well as Konate, France will be sweating on the fitness of Kylian Mbappe, who picked up an ankle injury during Real Madrid’s win over Villarreal at the weekend.
Despite that, Deschamps played down fears, and insisted every player he has called up is fit enough to play.
“There are still injuries. I don't have any additional information,” Deschamps said (via Le Parisien).
“We'll have an update when the players arrive. Kylian is here. He had a small problem that isn't a deal breaker. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come
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"The observation is that for the vast majority, they arrive tired. They arrive from one week to three matches. I will have to spread out the playing time more than in September. They are all fit to play."
Liverpool.com says: Liverpool might not be too thrilled to hear Deschamps say that. Jurgen Klopp had one or two run-ins with the French boss in the past over his use of Konate, and Slot might be following suit if this is anything to go by.
Konate has been a regular for his country, although he might get a reprieve this time around with William Saliba in the squad after missing the September international break. We certainly won’t be complaining if the Arsenal star gets the nod against Azerbaijan and Iceland.
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