France boss Deschamps gives positive update on key defender Saliba's fitness

[p]Speaking before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/france-QkGeVG1n/northern-ireland-lQADNSWu/?mid=h6AZ5xIP"]Monday’s friendly against Northern Ireland[/a], the tactician confirmed that all 26 players in his squad, including [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/saliba-william/EgIM3sB7/"]Saliba[/a], will be available after also revealing [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dembele-ousmane/zsMC2Ec0/"]Ousmane Dembele[/a] will start the match.[/p][p]The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/arsenal/hA1Zm19f/"]Arsenal[/a] defender has been dealing with a back issue, but is recovering well and is not expected to miss any action. [/p][p]Deschamps explained that Saliba is being carefully monitored by the medical staff and that the problem has persisted for several weeks without preventing him from playing regularly for Arsenal.[/p][embed guid="5eae995e-212d-40d3-87d4-1f4987678b77" url="https://x.com/FrenchTeam/status/2063201679265452247/photo/1" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"He’s being looked after by the medical staff. We’re also managing him based on how he feels, but it’s something he’s had for several weeks, and it hasn’t stopped him from playing every game for Arsenal,"[/b] he told [a href="https://www.tf1.fr/tf1/telefoot" target="_blank"]Telefoot.[/a][/p][p]The positive update comes as a major boost for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/france/QkGeVG1n/"]France[/a], with Saliba widely expected to partner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/upamecano-dayot/OMhLhEJB/"]Dayot Upamecano[/a] in central defence as Les Bleus prepare for their World Cup campaign in the United States.[/p]