PSG midfielder Adrien Rabiot ‘asks to be off stand-by list for France’s World Cup squad’ and insists he will ‘not keep fit’
Sevilla midfielder Steven N'Zonzi was perhaps surprisingly selected ahead of Rabiot, who is a starter for the Ligue 1 champions
ADRIEN RABIOT has written to the national FA and asked to be taken off the standby list for France's World Cup squad, according to local reports.
Perhaps surprisingly, Didier Deschamps elected to call up Sevilla midfielder Steven N'Zonzi in place of the Paris Saint-Germain man.
Rabiot, 23, along with the likes of Anthony Martial, Alexandre Lacazette and Kingsley Coman, are the first reserves — and could be called upon should injury befall any of the chosen 23.
However, various reports in France insist he has asked to be taken off the standby list, and has told the French FA he will will not be working on his fitness, therefore making himself unavailable.
Since Blaise Matuidi left for Juventus last summer, Rabiot has become a first team player at PSG and would have been hopeful of making Deschamps' squad.
But he is one of a number of big-name omissions.
France World Cup squad
Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Alphonse Areola (Paris St Germain)
Defenders: Djibril Sidibe (Monaco), Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris St Germain), Adil Rami (Marseille), Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City), Lucas Hernandez (Atletico Madrid)
Midfielders: Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich), Blaise Matuidi (Juventus), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Steven Nzonzi (Sevilla)
Forwards: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Kylian Mbappe (Paris St Germain), Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), Florian Thauvin (Marseille), Nabil Fekir (Lyon), Thomas Lemar (Monaco).
Standby list: Wissam Ben Yedder (Sevilla), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Benoit Costil (Bordeaux), Mathieu Debuchy (St Etienne), Lucas Digne (Barcelona), Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal), Anthony Martial (Manchester United), Adrien Rabiot (Paris St Germain), Mamadou Sakho (Crystal Palace), Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham), Kurt Zouma (Stoke).
The standby list is packed with players from Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
While Dimitri Payet and Aymeric Laporte have missed out entirely and Laurent Koscielny is unavailable through injury.
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This isn't the first time Rabiot has clashed with his coaches at international level — recently asking not to be deployed in a defensive role.
Australia, Peru and Denmark will be France's World Cup group opponents.