Jeremy Mathieu: 'Barcelona move helped with France selection'

Jeremy Mathieu believes that his summer move to Barcelona will help his international prospects with France.

The 29-year-old joined the Catalan outfit from Valencia this summer and believes that he is now being taken seriously as an international defender.

"Obviously I am the same player who was at Valencia, but after five years there I could have some great games and it wouldn't have made any impact [on being selected for France]," he told Le Parisien.

"Instead, after I arrived at Barcelona I had the feeling that people were not looking at me in the same way. Now I want to play some great games for Barca so I am selected for the next squad."

Mathieu represented France in their 1-1 draw with Serbia at the weekend.