Griezmann with the Blues under Zidane: the dream he firmly ruled out

Zinedine Zidane is set to reveal his first France squad on Friday at 6 p.m., and Antoine Griezmann’s name has circulated in conversations — despite the international retirement the striker announced in autumn 2024.

It was singer Soprano, a regular at Z5, the sports complex launched by Zidane in Aix-en-Provence, who fuelled the speculation. Appearing on the Super Moscato Show on Thursday, he described a focused and well-prepared manager: “Every Sunday, you see Zidane at Z5. The guy is focused, I think he has a well-prepared plan. He has everything in his head.” The Marseille artist added that he expected “some nice surprises” and “comebacks”, without specifying which.

When asked about Karim Benzema, Soprano tempered expectations: “On paper, seeing Zizou-Benzema in the France team is magnificent, but it’s too much.” It was Griezmann’s name that got him excited: “Griezmann, I’d like that. We’ll see. He said he’s retiring. If he comes back, he’ll take flak from all the media.”

From a sporting standpoint, the scenario would be appealing. Since joining Orlando City in MLS, the former France number 7 has been scoring and providing assists at 34 years old, confirming he maintains a high level. But the man himself has consistently dismissed any comeback hypothesis with the same firmness: “It’s completely over, it wasn’t a snap decision, it was carefully thought through.”

Zidane’s first squad should also include several new faces — Esteban Lepaul, Jérémy Jacquet, Andy Diouf, Lucas Da Cunha — to compensate for possible absences of N’Golo Kanté, Lucas Digne, Théo Hernandez and Brice Samba.