Rapheal Varane will no longer feature in the France's European Championship campaign after being ruled out with a thigh injury he picked up in training with Real Madrid earlier this week. The French Football Federation confirmed yesterday that the defender, who has 29 caps for his country, will be out for up to three weeks.
In a statement the FFF commented that Varane “will be out for too long” in relation to the time frame of the competition, therefore Didier Deschamps has “decided not to keep him” in the team.
Rami to step in
Sevilla’s Adil Rami will take Varane’s place in Deschamps’ 23-man squad. Rami was initially called up as cover on Monday, but he officially took his place after the Real Madrid defender underwent a scan on Tuesday morning. The scan confirmed Madrid’s diagnosis of a tear to his left thigh muscle. Rami has 26 caps for his country. The side are also without Liverpool’s Mamadou Sakho for the competition.
Varane misses Champions League Final
The injury means the Real Madrid player will also miss the Champions League final against Atletico Madrid this weekend. However, Real boss Zinedine Zidane has assured fans that he is the only player struggling with injury ahead of the final, commenting: “I think we’ll be in good shape physically”, adding that “James is a bit better, Arbeloa too” and that the “only problem is Varane”.
The French squad will see a host of talent from the Premier League including: Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris, who captains the side, as well as Manchester City’s Bacary Sagna, West Ham’s playmaker Dimitri Payet, Leicester’s N’Golo Kante and Manchester United’s Anthony Martial.
As the host team, France will open the tournament on Friday the 10th of June in a Group A fixture against Romania.