Kylian Mbappe and Paris Saint-Germain squad bundle Warren Zaire-Emery as starlet gets first France senior call-up
Warren Zaire-Emery’s first senior call-up isn’t just good news for France fans, but his teammates as well.
The 17-year-old Paris Saint-Germain wonderkid got the nod from Dider Deschamps, and will likely earn his first minutes in Euro 2024 qualifiers as Les Bleus face Gibraltar and Greece later this month.
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The graduation of ‘WZE’ shouldn’t come as much of a surprise though, with the vastly intelligent central midfielder arguably PSG’s best player of this season so far.
Nevertheless, his fellow teammates were still absolutely delighted by the news, as a clip from the club showed.
Zaire-Emery was seen lying in his bed with Deschamps on the screen naming his squad, and in burst some of his new France colleagues, along with a number of other recognisable faces.
France captain Kylian Mbappe started the pile on with his best friend and Morocco star Achraf Hakimi, while a whole host of other PSG stars bundled the youngster.
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The news is understandably headline making, with the Paris-born midfielder set to become the youngest France international since 1914 should he get any minutes in the November qualifiers, which he’s likely to do with the two-time European champions already qualifying.
Zaire-Emery had only recently been called up to Thierry Henry’s Under-21 side, and has managed only four games before making another jump to the senior squad.
That isn’t a shock to Henry, though, who earlier said: “It’s truly astonishing to see what he can do at the moment.
“We can talk about his strength, his physique, but his vision… Understanding the game, how he positions himself, the desire…
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“With the captain’s armband, I wanted to know what he had in his stomach. He showed me in two matches that he is an exceptional player.”
It’s been an underwhelming start for PSG under Luis Enrique this season, but Zaire-Emery has continued to impress, even in a brutal 4-1 Champions League defeat to Newcastle.
Discussing that game, Henry added: “Unfortunately his team collapsed, but not him.
“His maturity, what he manages to do, to understand at his age, it’s just not normal! We are taking it as if it were something logical and natural but it is anything but natural.
“Let’s be happy we have a French player like this.”
France’s full squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers : Alphonse Areola, Mike Maignan, Brice Samba
Defenders : Jonathan Clauss, Lucas Hernandez, Theo Hernandez, Ibrahima Konate, Jules Kounde, Jean-Clair Todibo, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano
Midfielders: Eduardo Camavinga, Youssouf Fofana, Boubacar Kamara, Adrien Rabiot, Warren Zaire-Emery
Attackers : Kingsley Coman, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Randal Kolo Muani, Kylian Mbappe, Marcus Thuram