France have emerged as one of the unluckiest teams heading into the World Cup, having lost players such as N’Golo Kante, Paul Pogba and Christopher Nkunku due to injuries. And yesterday, Karim Benzema became the most recent player to be ruled out of the competition due to a thigh problem.
However, according to Diario SPORT, the absence of Benzema has opened the door for one certain Barcelona player in the form of Ousmane Dembele
The report points out how French coach Didier Deschamps is now left with limited options at his disposal and may have to rely on a lot of players, who were considered to be second fiddle heading into the tournament.
One of them is Dembele, who is regarded as one of the stars at Barcelona and has been a consistent performer at Camp Nou since the start of the year.
As per the report, it appears Dembele could become a part of France’s new attacking trifecta, comprising him, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe.
This is because France only have limited options in the attacking unit. Apart from Dembele, Kingsley Coman is the other option, along with Olivier Giroud, whose regular participation can be questioned due to his age. As for Randal Kolo Muani, the Eintracht starlet has enjoyed an excellent start to the Bundesliga season but lacks experience at the top level.
This should pave the way for Dembele to become a first-team regular for Deschamps. The Barcelona winger has abundant experience at the highest level and has what it takes to change the complexion of the game.
The former Dortmund starlet has indeed won 28 caps for the French team up until now, scoring four goals in the process. However, after a significant period of non-participation, it will be interesting to see whether the explosive winger can deliver the goods for Les Bleus in this World Cup.