France send Aurelien Tchouameni back to Real Madrid as Zinedine Zidane makes surprise squad decision

Aurelien Tchouameni has been ruled out of France’s next two UEFA Nations League matches against Italy and Turkey after suffering a groin injury, with Zinedine Zidane deciding not to call up a replacement.

The Real Madrid midfielder is the third player to leave the France squad in the past few hours. He was unable to complete Tuesday’s training session after experiencing pain in the groin area and will now return to his club.

The French Football Federation said Tchouameni had been suffering from muscular discomfort since arriving at the team’s Clairefontaine training centre. Following discussions with Real Madrid’s medical staff, France’s medical team agreed with the player that he should return to Madrid.

“ The player has been experiencing this pain since arriving at Clairefontaine,” the federation said in a statement.

“Given his medical history, and after consulting Real Madrid’s doctors a few minutes ago, the France team’s medical staff, in agreement with the player, decided to return him to his club. He will spend the night with the squad before leaving for Madrid tomorrow.”

The federation did not give an expected timeframe for Tchouameni’s recovery or say how long he would be unavailable.

Zidane has chosen not to bring in another player to replace him. That differs from the decisions taken after Pierre Kalulu and Marcus Thuram were withdrawn from the squad in recent hours.

Kalulu was replaced by Sael Kumbedi, while Junior Kroupi was added to the squad in place of Thuram.

Tchouameni’s latest injury is understood to be a continuation of the same physical problem he suffered during the most recent World Cup. It also forced him to miss France’s squad gathering in September, before he returned to the team for the current international break.

France will face Italy on Thursday before hosting Turkey on Sunday in the UEFA Nations League.