World Cup 2018: 5 Premier League stars dropped by France

#3 Kurt Zouma (Stoke City on loan from Chelsea)

Zouma's side was relegated but he will be returning to Chelsea

Zouma first represented France in 2015. Back then, Deschamps was keen to build a partnership between him and Raphael Varane. The Real Madrid defender has been included in the squad but not Zouma.

The defender is well thought of by many other players. Danny Murphy predicted that Zouma would be an ideal replacement for former Chelsea captain, John Terry, and become an integral player of the team. However, after four years at Chelsea, the player has only made 47 appearances and has had two loan spells.

With the bar set up high, it will be difficult for Zouma to replace the more favored players such as Samuel Umtiti and Adil Rami. Umtiti is currently regarded as one of the best defenders in the world. It will be difficult for Deschamps not to include the Barcelona man. At the same time, Deschamps had also made the decision to select younger defenders such as Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez. Unfortunately, Zouma did not make the cut.

After appearing in 2015, Zouma has not played for France since then. He was called up in 2017 after Varane had to pull out due to injury. Given that Varane is fit to play for France this summer, it looks unlikely that there will be room to accommodate Zouma.