Zinedine Zidane has suffered a fresh blow in the France camp. The French Federation have announced that Aurelien Tchouameni will miss the upcoming two matches against Italy and Turkey in the UEFA Nations League through injury, making him the third player to leave the Les Bleus squad in the past few hours.
The midfielder's exit followed a groin injury that stopped him completing training today, Tuesday. He now returns to his club, Real Madrid.
In an official statement, the French Football Federation explained that Tchouameni had felt muscular pain since arriving at the Clairefontaine centre. The national team's medical staff, working with the player and after speaking to Real Madrid's doctors, decided to send him back to his club.
The statement read: "The player has been feeling this pain since arriving at Clairefontaine. Given his medical history, and after consulting minutes ago with Real Madrid's doctors, the France national team's medical staff decided, in agreement with the player, to send him back to his club. He will spend the night with the group, before leaving tomorrow for Madrid."
How long Tchouameni will be sidelined remains unclear, with the French Federation keeping quiet on the matter.
Zidane has also chosen not to call up a replacement, unlike the cases of Pierre Kalulu and Marcus Thuram over the past few hours. Those two made way for Sael Kumbedi and Junior Kroupi respectively.
This latest setback stems from the same physical problem Tchouameni carried through the last World Cup. It forced him out of the France camp last September, before he returned to the squad during the current international break.
France face Italy the day after tomorrow, Thursday, before hosting Turkey on Sunday in the UEFA Nations League.