Thierry Henry, the bad news begins

As expected following the announcement of the list of 25 players selected for the Olympic Games, Lille and PSG refuse to release their selected players.

Thierry Henry had warned from the outset when announcing the names of the 25 players called to begin the preparation course for the Olympic Games, which will begin on June 16 in Clairefontaine: this list will be subject to change. “It’s the least virtual list. This is the list of the moment, it can evolve since it is the clubs which have the power. As proof, we changed two names only twenty-five minutes ago”he said in the preamble.

To put together his list, Thierry Henry took care to contact the foreign clubs concerned. “ There is no discussion. You come, you ask, they tell you no and you leave,” he explained, disillusioned. An approach to which he did not comply for the French clubs. Consequence of a meeting with club presidents last fall. “ We met all the presidents of the L1 and L2 clubs on December 15 by videoconference. We talked with everyone. There was a problem with the duration of the preparation, it was the only constraint of the clubs and we agreed to remove a weekhe confided. They understood the situation, I stayed with it. »

Lille and PSG have good reasons

But for certain clubs, the situation has changed since this winter. This is particularly the case for Lille, which has three players among the 25, three executives: Lucas Chevalier, Leny Yoro and Bafodé Diakité. Olivier Létang, president of Losc, has already contacted Thierry Henry to warn him that his players will not be released. “We have an extremely important deadline for our club, he justified to L’Equipe in reference to the third preliminary round of the Champions League that the northern club must play on August 6 and 13. I am president of LOSC and I defend its interests. There’s not even a question to ask. If our position is unique it is also because we are the only ones to play in the play-offs. »

But Lille is not the only club to have already said no. The same goes for PSG regarding its two selected players: Bradley Barcola and Warren Zaire-Emery. This time, it is because of their presence among the Blues summoned by Didier Deschamps for Euro 2024, the capital club logically fearing overwork if they play the two competitions one after the other.

Thierry Henry should, however, be able to count on the three players called up by Stade Rennais. The Breton club initially wanted to release only two but its leaders would have reviewed their position and Adrien Truffert, Désiré Doué and Arnaud Kalimuendo should be part of the adventure.