Lenglet receives first France call-up, Laporte and Lacazette miss out

Didier Deschamps has handed maiden call-ups to a trio of players for next month's friendly against Bolivia and the Euro 2020 qualifiers.

Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet has received his first France call-up but Didier Deschamps has opted against naming Alexandre Lacazette and Aymeric Laporte in his latest squad.

Lenglet has impressed in his first season with the La Liga champion, making 43 appearances across all competitions, and will hope to make his debut in a friendly against Bolivia on June 2 or in the subsequent Euro 2020 qualifiers with Turkey and Andorra.

Laporte has enjoyed a superb campaign with domestic treble winner Manchester City but is still waiting for his first international call-up, while Lacazette – who has scored 19 goals for Arsenal this season – has been left out in favour of Sevilla's Wissam Ben Yedder.

 

Asked at a media conference why he chose Lenglet over Laporte, Deschamps said: "Choices are sometimes difficult. I can't argue every time, even if you'd like it.

"Other players are deserving as well and Aymeric is among them. If I had not picked Clement, he would have deserved it as well.

"It's a privilege for me. I have many players for each position who are serious candidates for the French team."

The France boss has also called up Lyon defender Leo Dubois and Lille goalkeeper Mike Maignan to the squad for the first time.

Nabil Fekir, Steve Mandanda, Presnel Kimpembe, Djibril Sidibe, Layvin Kurzawa and Anthony Martial, meanwhile, drop out from the last squad.

Following the friendly with Bolivia, France travels to Turkey on June 8 and then visits Andorra on June 11 as it looks to maintain its 100 per cent start to its Group H qualifying campaign.

France squad:  Alphonse Areola (Paris Saint-Germain), Benjamin Lecomte (Montpellier), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Mike Maignan (Lille), Lucas Digne (Everton), Clement Lenglet (Barcelona) Ferland Mendy (Lyon), Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart), Leo Dubois (Lyon), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Kurt Zouma (Everton), N'Golo Kante (Chelsea), Blaise Matuidi (Juventus), Tanguy Ndombele (Lyon), Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham), Wissam Ben Yedder (Sevilla), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Florian Thauvin (Marseille)