World Cup 2022: France's title defence suffers another blow

France's World Cup title defence suffered yet another blow after Christopher Nkunku sustained an injury during training on Monday. The French Football Federation confirmed that the Red Bull Leipzig forward had suffered a knee sprain that will keep him out of the 2022 extravaganza in Qatar.

"The RB Leipzig striker left the training session on Tuesday before its end, injured in the left knee. The radiological examinations taken in the evening unfortunately revealed that it was a sprain," the statement read from the FFF.

Nkunku's knee injury occurred after he made contact with Real Madrid's Eduardo Camavinga in training. The France international was able to walk off the training pitch unassisted, but scans later revealed that the injury would keep him out for an extended period, ending his World Cup dream.

A replacement for the Leipzig forward was not announced immediately, with FIFA yet to validate the medical file sent to them by the French Football Federation. The teams in Qatar will be able to name a replacement up until 24 hours of their first game.

Nkunku was not France's first casualty after the squad joined up ahead of the World Cup. Paris Saint-Germain defender Presnel Kimpembe pulled out of the squad with a hamstring injury, with AS Monaco defender Axel Disasi coming in as his replacement.

Borussia Monchengladbach forward Marcus Thuram has also been called up to the squad as a back up to senior strikers Karim Benzema and Olivier Giroud. It remains to be seen in which direction Deschamps will go in order to replace Nkunku, who was anyway expected to play a role from the bench.

Meanwhile, Nkunku's injury would also have captured the attention of Chelsea Football Club. The English top-flight outfit are expected to be close to agreeing a deal to sign the Frenchman from Leipzig next summer.

Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano confirmed that the deal for Nkunku's move to Chelsea is ready, but is yet to be signed. The 25-year-old has already undergone a medical, but the two clubs are yet to decide if he will move to West London in January or next summer, which was the original plan.

"It's up to the clubs and at the moment it's not signed yet so we will see; the deal is ready but not signed yet and this is an important stage," Romano told Caught Offside.