France manager Didier Deschamps has aimed a dig at Chelsea boss Frank Lampard over N’Golo Kante and Olivier Giroud.
The Blues duo are both in Deschamps’ latest France squad, but Lampard had been keen for Kante to be rested over the international break due to his recent struggles with injuries.
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However, it seems Deschamps did not take too kindly to the CFC manager interfering with his selection plans as he suggested he should perhaps make a request of his own – that Giroud should play more for his club.
“Lampard had asked me not to pick Kante at the last break,” Deschamps told a press conference, as quoted by the Daily Mirror.
“If that’s still the way I’m going to call him later to tell him it would be nice if you play Olivier Giroud a little bit!”
The former Arsenal man continues to be a regular for France despite barely playing for Chelsea this season, so it’s understandable that Deschamps might not be too happy with the situation.
This war of words is certainly not ideal from a Chelsea point of view, with fans likely to hope Kante can avoid further injury and fatigue after a stop-start campaign so far.
Giroud, meanwhile, does not currently look like he deserves to play ahead of Tammy Abraham, and Lampard surely won’t be bullied into changing his first-team plans any time soon.