Didier Deschamps is open to extending his stay with France

Didier Deschamps has expressed his interest to extend his stay with the French team beyond 2022. The Les Bleus head coach, who is currently preparing his team for the upcoming Euros, is into the ninth year of his reign as the national team coach and has a contract till next year. It is to be noted that the defending World Champions suffered a heart-breaking final defeat to Portugal in the 2016 Euro final. The Les Bleus head coach will be hoping to take them one step further to lift the coveted trophy.

“I may continue after 2022 with the agreement of my president,” Deschamps told RTL. “People have to want to keep me and for that you need results. I will do something else at some point, but I am thriving in this role of manager. I have a contract until December 2022, but today I am not thinking of becoming a club coach. I am very happy, all the conditions are met.”

The 52-year-old guided France to a quarterfinal finish in the 2014 World Cup. Since then their progress has been steady as they started to dominate the football world with commanding performances. Under his stewardship, they won the World Cup four years later in Russia. The comfortable 4-2 victory against Croatia in the final was a message to other nations as to how far they have progressed in the space of four years.

Meanwhile, Deschamps placed his support behind N’Golo Kante to win the 2021 Ballon d’Or. The French midfielder played a crucial role in helping Chelsea win only their second Champions League title last month. Since then many have been calling for him to be given the prestigious individual prize including his national teammate Paul Pogba.

“N’Golo, he doesn’t have the record of a striker,” the France boss added. “He can score a few goals but because of what he does everyone must have watched his last games, especially the Champions League final, N’Golo is also a driving force.”

“The Ballon d’Or? He deserves it. You know the criteria as well as I do, it mainly concerns offensive players. When there was a defender or a midfielder, it was because there was no attacking player who had really marked the football year. He is one of those driving forces of the France team too, he has a place – it is not in relation to his size by saying that he is small, but he is huge!”