ARSENAL defender William Saliba is set to start for France tonight, after a late U-turn by Didier Deschamps.
Deschamps has been reluctant to play Saliba, despite his brilliant form for Arsenal, but L'Equipe reported this morning that he will partner Dayot Upamecano in defence.
Saliba has made a late charge to gatecrash the team for France's Euros opener after excelling in the final warm-up game, against Canada, this month.
Saliba was a rare bright spark during the 0-0 draw, misplacing just four of his 76 passes and winning all five of his aerial duels.
It is nonetheless still a surprise that Deschamps is set to give him the nod tonight as, since handing Saliba his debut in March 2022, he has repeatedly overlooked him. Indeed, France have had 27 matches since then and Saliba has started just seven of them.
That run included a difficult World Cup in Qatar for the defender, where he played just 27 minutes off the bench.
This story is from the June 17, 2024 edition of Evening Standard.
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This story is from the June 17, 2024 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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