Thierry Henry, who will manage the France U23 side in this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, has said that he is hoping to get Real Madrid to change their stance on releasing players for the tournament.
As the Olympic tournament falls outside of the FIFA calendar, clubs are not obliged to release their players for the event. Some clubs may therefore prevent their players from participating in the competition, which comes around the time of the resumption of club football.
One club that has made its stance clear is Real Madrid. “When Real decided to veto [us going], we can’t really say much,” said Aurélien Tchouaméni on Thursday, who nonetheless expressed a desire to participate in the tournament. “It’s not necessarily a good thing to be in an unstable position with your employer, but we would have liked to have done it,” he added.
Real Madrid’s stance means that Eduardo Camavinga will also be unable to participate. The same will likely apply to Kylian Mbappé, who is expected to join Los Blancos from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
Wary of his lack of power, Henry is still nonetheless eager to alter Real Madrid’s stance on their players’ participation in the Olympics. “We know very well that Real Madrid is an institution but once again, one must stay in one place and try to send an email to see if we can have a meeting. If ever there is a meeting, we will try to plead our case,” Henry told RMC Sport.
He added, “If the no stays as a no, I don’t have the cards in my hand to try and get something.” Whilst it feels unlikely that Henry will be able to count on Tchouaméni, Camavinga, or even Mbappé for this summer’s Olympics, he will do everything in his power before accepting defeat.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle