Euro 2024 is just around the corner and France head into the tournament, as ever, as one of the favourites.
The 2018 world champions remain one of the best teams on the planet, and while some of their star players may be getting a bit older now, they’re still a remarkable team.
Speaking on the BBC Match of the Day Top 10 Podcast, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer have been debating who will win the Euros, and he two pundits disagreed over one area of the France squad.
Indeed, while Richards argued that France have some fantastic centre-backs, Alan Shearer questioned Didier Deschamps’ side in that position, claiming that he has doubts over how much the manager rates William Saliba and the ability of Ibrahima Konate.
Alan Shearer questions Ibrahima Konate
Shearer and Richards had a bit of a debate about the £36m Liverpool man.
“They have pace at the back, they have great centre-halves, they have Konate and Saliba,” Richards said.
“We’ve spoken about Saliba, and we’ve said the manager doesn’t fancy him. And Konate, really?” Shearer said.
Konate is good enough
Shearer may question Konate here, but make no mistake about it, he’s good enough to win the Euros with France.
There’s an argument to make that Konate would actually get into every team at the Euros’ starting XI.
Amongst the favourites, England have long-standing issues at centre-back, Germany can’t settle on a pairing and while the Netherlands have a number of talented players in that position, you could argue that Konate would be best-suited to partner Virgil van Dijk due to their understanding at club level.
Is Konate something of a weak link in this France squad? Maybe, but teams can win tournaments with players who aren’t necessarily at that elite world-class level starting every game.
France are still one of the favourites to win the Euros, and it wouldn’t be a shock at all if Konate played a huge part in Les Blues’ triumph this summer.