France: a second-division player called up, the very limited pool of French right-backs

Zidane called up Wolfsburg's Saël Kumbedi as France faces a severe shortage of right-back options, with most specialists either aging, injured, or underperforming at club level.

Zinédine Zidane has turned to Saël Kumbedi, a 21-year-old at Wolfsburg in Germany's second division, to cover for injured Pierre Kalulu in France's squad. The call-up raised eyebrows, but it reflects a deeper problem: France has very few quality right-back specialists available.

Behind Jules Koundé (a converted centre-back), Malo Gusto, and Nordi Mukiele, Kumbedi ranks fourth among French right-backs by market value at €12 million. The options beyond that are bleak.

Mukiele (29, one cap) plays for struggling Sunderland; Ruben Aguilar (33) and Jonathan Clauss (34) are too old; Lorenz Assignon struggles for minutes at Stuttgart; Kiliann Sildillia (24) has just returned from injury after a poor spell at PSV; and Sacha Boey (26) at Bayern Munich barely plays, having been loaned to Galatasaray last season.

Zidane has acknowledged the crisis and asked youth coaches to develop right-backs, even converting axial defenders like Ismaëlo Ganiou to the role. Warren Zaïre-Emery has impressed at PSG and is considered by some analysts as the best option, but Zidane refuses to use him there, preferring to deploy him in midfield. Malo Gusto is expected to start at right-back against Italy on Thursday.