According to information from Ouest France, Didier Deschamps will meet Noël Le Graët just after the Christmas holidays to discuss his future.
The time for reflection will be short. West France revealed Thursday, December 22 that the interview between the president of the FFF Noël Le Graët and Didier Deschamps on the future of the post of coach of the France team will be held the week of December 26, only a few days after the defeat of the Blues in the final of the world Cup. The meeting will take place at Guingamp and there will be talk of a long extension or a departure.
“And why not 2030?” launched Noël Le Graët to our colleagues. “We are already going to spend some time together to talk a bit about what happened in Qatar and its desires, how we are already considering the 2024 European Championship (…) Of course I have to talk about it to certain members of the Comex, but in my opinion we will settle this at Guingamp. If he does not want to stay, it will be very short. If he wants to stay, there will be somewhat longer discussions. If we can wrap up that before the end of the year, if possible… I didn’t think about the fact that Didier could leave. Some journalists want that to change, but I am not at all influenced by this kind of thing. Didier has well done his job, he has priority, and I think we will agree.”
In the event of the departure of the Blues, what future for Didier Deschamps?
For the Minister of Sports interviewed this Tuesday, December 20 on France 2, “when you have such an exceptional personality, you must never forget that it is a privilege. He brings a lot to this team, he is in the top top world. This is a huge opportunity and a huge asset for the whole of French sport.Less than 600 days before the Olympic and Paralympic Games, he can share his experience, help the teams, talk to them… In conjunction with the National Agency sport and the work led by Claude Onesta (General Manager of High Performance, editor’s note), I think there are things he could bring beyond football.”
On the presidency of the FFF, his agent Jean Pierre Bernes swept away this idea at the microphone of BFM TV on Monday December 19. “Not at all. It’s not at all… First of all Didier is still young. He still has ambitions to manage a team and players. He is not at all in this project. Not at all “It’s not at all linked to a position of president of the Federation. He’s a man of the field, that’s what he likes. That’s what he’s always liked. Since the age of 24 years old, he is a leader of men. He has been captain of major teams in Nantes, Marseille, Turin. He has also managed major clubs (…) These are not the questions or the pressures that ‘there could be a few days that will come, and it’s completely normal, that will make him change his mind.
A new conflict with Benzema?
Some elements suggest that the disenchantment between Karim Benzema and the staff of the Blues has broken out again. The Frenchman notably decided to refuse the invitation of the FFF and Emmanuel Macron to go to Doha to attend the final of the Blues. And the player’s communication was controversial: few messages of support during the competition, but above all this photo of him, pouting, posted the day before the final with this comment: “I’m not interested”. If nothing is clear in this way of speaking, it was already quite obvious that the situation between Karim Benzema and the FFF was delicate. According to the newspaper L’Equipe, which is not one to produce files on rumours, took the liberty of publishing an article on Sunday entitled “The ‘Benzema file’ has polluted the preparation for the World Cup final” . According to the French daily, the relationship between the Madrid player and Didier Deschamps would have deteriorated: the player would have liked to do everything possible with the medical staff of the Blues to be available with the Blues for the final phase of the competition, which Didier Deschamps would have refused, considering that the group dynamic takes place without the absentees.
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Didier Deschamps was born on October 15, 1968, in Bayonne, a city where he grew up with his parents Pierre and Ginette, and his older brother Philippe. After joining the FC Nantes training center in 1983, he quickly moved into the position of defensive midfielder. During his time in Loire-Atlantique, he had the happiness of meeting Claude, his future wife, but also the misfortune of losing his brother Philippe, victim of a plane crash on December 21, 1987, then his father-in-law, who died of a heart attack three days later. At the end of the five years spent under the colors of Nantes, he was transferred to Olympique de Marseille. Loaned to the Girondins de Bordeaux during the 1990-1991 season, he returned to Marseille in 1991 to win and become club captain. With OM, he won the Champions League in 1993, and two French championship titles in 1990 and 1992. In 1994, he joined Juventus in Turin where, with Zinedine Zidane, he won eleven titles, including one new Champions League in 1996 and three Italian league titles. At the same time, called up to the France team since 1989, he became captain of the national team in 1994 and established himself as the relay on the field of the coach Aimé Jacquet. With the Blues, he won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship. He signed for Chelsea in 1999, then for Valencia in 2000. At the end of the season, he retired as a player.
In 2001, he was appointed coach of Monaco, a club with which he played in the Champions League final in 2004. In 2006, he coached Juventus Turin for a season, relegated to Division 2. After a two-year break, he returned to OM where he won five titles, including that of French champion in 2010. He left the club in 2012 to take the reins of the French team, which he took to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where France reached the quarter-finals. In 2016, the Blues are in the final for the Euro, beaten in overtime by Portugal (1-0). The French team takes its revenge two years later, winning its second World Cup in Russia. After a mixed start to the competition, victory in the round of 16 against Argentina propelled the Blues to the final, where they dominated Croatia (4-2). Didier Deschamps then qualified the Blues for Euro 2021 where they are among the big favorites in the competition.
According to figures published by the Dutch media Zoomin TV in 2018, Didier Deschamps would receive a salary of 3.4 million euros (excluding bonuses) from the French Football Federation. A few months later, during an interview with Le Parisien, the coach of the Blues had however refused to confirm these figures. “I won’t tell you, because it’s indecent, he explained. It’s impossible to talk about that. I’ve been aware for many years that I’m a privileged person. I’m not ashamed, Quite the contrary. I could argue, but Mr. and Mrs. Everybody can’t hear that, because they’re in trouble.”
As a player, Didier Deschamps was part of the team that missed qualification for the 1994 World Cup, following the cruel defeat against Bulgaria at the Parc des Princes in November 1993. Then appointed captain by the new coach Aimé Jacquet, the midfielder led the Blues to the first victory in the World Cup, at home in 1998. After starting his career as a club coach, Deschamps took the reins of the France team after the Euro 2012. He brought order to the national team and, after difficult qualifications and a snatched place in the play-offs against Ukraine, managed to hoist the Blues into the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Brazil. In 2018, Deschamps patiently built his team, depriving himself of Karim Benzema but relying on the young Kylian Mbappé. Result: a second title of world champion, this time on the bench, after a big victory in the final against Croatia (4-2).
After his training in Nantes, Didier Deschamps joined Olympique de Marseille at the age of 21. After a complicated season, he was then loaned to Bordeaux. The midfielder stands up to Bernard Tapie, who wants to sell him to PSG. Deschamps persists and wins the right to start the season with OM. Two seasons later, the young player became the first captain of a French team to lift the Champions League, on May 26, 1993. He left the club a year later to join Juventus Turin. In 2009, Didier Deschamps returned to OM as first team coach. In his first year, the technician achieved a double League Cup – Championship and put an end to a 17-year drought without a trophy for OM. Deschamps will leave Marseille in 2012, with 2 more League Cups on the clock, but undermined by internal tensions.
Very discreet about his private life, Didier Deschamps has been married to Claude for over thirty years. Met in Nantes during their studies, the couple have a child, Dylan, born in 1996. Despite a common passion between father and son, Dylan studied in the financial sector and launched his start-up called App4Media.