Mbappe in, Dembele out for France

Paris (AFP) – Teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe, reportedly on the verge of a move to Paris Saint-Germain, was on Thursday named in France’s squad for World Cup qualifiers against the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

While 18-year-old Monaco star Mbappe has been picked, coach Didier Deschamps has omitted Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele, who is embroiled in his own transfer saga after attracting the interest of Barcelona as they seek to replace Neymar.

Deschamps said the two players were different cases.

“Ousmane hasn’t trained for a fortnight and he’s waiting to see if the transfer will go ahead or won’t go ahead,” he said.

“There is a lot of noise around Kylian about whether or not he is changing club. But even though he hasn’t been involved in Monaco’s last two games… he has been training and he is fit.”

There is no place either for defender Benjamin Mendy, who quit Monaco’s title-winning side to join Manchester City but is returning to full fitness after a thigh injury.

France play the Dutch at the Stade de France in Paris on August 31 before taking on minnows Luxembourg in Toulouse on September 3.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Alphonse Areola (Paris Saint-Germain), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham/ENG), Steve Mandanda (Marseille)

Defenders: Lucas Digne (Barcelona/ESP), Christophe Jallet (Nice), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal/ENG), Layvin Kurzawa (Paris Saint-Germain), Djibril Sidibe (Monaco), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona/ESP), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid/ESP)

Midfielders: N’Golo Kante (Chelsea/ENG), Thomas Lemar (Monaco), Blaise Matuidi (Juventus/ITA), Paul Pogba (Manchester United/ENG), Adrien Rabiot (Paris Saint-Germain), Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich/GER)

Forwards: Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich/GER), Nabil Fekir (Lyon), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal/ENG), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal/ENG), Kylian Mbappe (Monaco), Florian Thauvin (Marseille)