Chelsea star left out of France's Olympics team by Thierry Henry - Reports
Chelsea midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu has reportedly been left out by France Olympic team football coach Thierry Henry. The 20-year-old made 15 appearances for the Blues across competitions last season, making no goal contribution.
Most of those appearances - 12 - came in the Premier League - where the Blues won their last five games to finish a creditable sixth after looking good for back-to-back mid-table finishes. He also appeared in three games in the EFL Cup, where the club lost 1-0 in extra time to Liverpool in the final.
However, Ugochukwu apparently didn't convince his Olympic football team boss Henry enough to be a part of the final list of 18 players for the quadrennial games - scheduled in Paris in a few weeks.
That has been reported by Get French Football News (via L'Equipe), but the report mentions that the player has been kept as one of four 'reservists'.
Apart from Ugochukwu, the other three players placed on reserve are Auxerre's 23-year-old goalkeeper Theo De Percin, Monaco's 22-year-old centre-back Chrislain Matsima and 21-year-old Lens midfielder Andy Diouf.
It's pertinent to note that Blues midfielder Ugochukwu spent long periods on the sidelines during his maiden season at Stamford Bridge, which might have led to his non-inclusion in the final 18-man squad.
How many Chelsea players are still active at Euro 2024?
Chelsea have had eight players turn up for seven different teams at the ongoing UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany. Among them, only four players are still involved in the competition, where quarter-final action starts on Friday (July 5).
The quartet are Ian Maatsen of the Netherlands - who take on Turkey in Berlin on Saturday (July 6), Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher of England - who are in action against Switzerland on Saturday in Dusseldorf - and Marc Cucurella of Spain - who play hosts Germany in Stuttgart on Friday.
Apart from the aforementioned four players, Romelu Lukaku (Belgium) had also reached the knockouts, but his team fell by a solitary goal to two-time winners France in the Round of 16.