France: Zidane forced to reshuffle Mbappé without Dembélé or Thuram

In the green of Clairefontaine, France has started the camp with Zinedine Zidane dealing with numerous absences ahead of the Nations League matches against Italy and Turkey.

Pierre Kalulu, Marcus Thuram and Aurélien Tchouameni have been knocked out, leaving Zidane to focus on managing Kylian Mbappé.

Mbappé's tactical reshaping

With Ousmane Dembélé absent, the Real Madrid striker should be deployed as a central forward rather than on the left wing, reviving the experiment that was halted in September after less than an hour due to a knee injury suffered in Turkey.

Within the dressing room context, the captain's role appears more complex and isolated than before.

Mbappé and Dembélé rift leaves France squad uneasy after Ballon d’Or

According to L’Équipe, the Ballon d’Or campaign has strained relations between the Madrid native and Dembélé, while Dembélé allegedly did not reply to a WhatsApp message sent by KM10 to clarify the differences, a reaction deemed disproportionate by the captain of the Bleus.

The absence of his usual “first‑choice guard” and Marcus Thuram’s withdrawal, a key figure for linking the various components of the squad, further complicates Mbappé’s task.

Mbappé’s attempts to get closer to teammates and staff have sometimes been perceived as unusual or opportunistic by a constantly evolving dressing room.

The ’98 class is aware that his strength will first depend on his impact on the pitch, where he aims to once again pull the Bleus together to rebuild the team.