The French Football Federation (FFF) says Chelsea have recalled Lesley Ugochukwu from his participation with the France Olympic squad.
Ugochukwu was named in Thierry Henry’s preliminary selection for the under-23 tournament in his home country in June but missed out on a place in the condensed 18-man squad earlier this month.
However, Olympic football rules allow teams to take up to four replacements that can come in for any injured players in the initial selection at any time during the tournament, and then return to replacement status if the player returns to fitness. U.S. women’s head coach Emma Hayes said last week she sees it as a 22-player squad. As the Olympics is not a tournament within a FIFA window, club sides are allowed to block their players from participating.
Ugochukwu joined Chelsea from Rennes for around £23.5million ($30.3m) last summer. The 19-year-old featured regularly as a rotation option in the first half of the season but suffered a hamstring injury that saw him miss most of the second half of the campaign, ending with 15 appearances across competitions.
The Athletic reported earlier this month that Chelsea were reviewing loan options for Ugochukwu, with the club’s priority that the midfielder spends the season at another Premier League team. Chelsea have been back in training since July 4 and are due to head to the U.S. for a pre-season tour on Monday, where they will face Wrexham, Celtic, Club America, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.
Henry’s France side, meanwhile, have been drawn in Group A alongside the U.S., Guinea and New Zealand.
The Athletic has contacted Chelsea for comment.
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