France will participate in the Olympic men's soccer team as hosts this summer. Coach Thierry Henry will select his strongest squad for the tournament. According to reports, Arsenal's backbone William Shaliba is also on the list. If this is true, the 22-year-old backbone will miss the Premier League next season. However, according to FIFA rules, the Olympics is not a "guaranteed" tournament and Arsenal have the right to refuse release.
France Juniors coach Henri has been instructed to compete for Olympic gold with his strongest squad. Kilian McBarbie and Kishavin are reportedly the three favorite candidates for the overage players. As for Shaleba, a school-age player, he is also seen by Henri as a mainstay in the race for the gold medal. The Olympic men's soccer team will play from July 24th to August 9th. The final is only a week before the Premier League starts and the competitors need a vacation. Let's not forget that Salepa also have a good chance of playing the European national final week in June.
According to Daily Mirror, Arsenal will reject Henry's call-up request as FIFA does not require clubs to release players to play in the Olympics. As a matter of fact, Shaliba was also shortlisted in the French U23 army in the last Tokyo Olympics, but he decided to withdraw from the team as he wanted to participate in Arsenal's pre-season training.
