Everton defender Lucas Digne believes his move to Merseyside has helped reignite his international career.
The 25-year-old, who joined from Barcelona for £18million in the summer, missed out on France’s World Cup triumph after only making the standby list for Didier Deschamps’ side.
However, he has emerged as the Toffees’ first-choice left-back, playing more games than Leighton Baines so far this season, having started the last five Premier League matches, and that has earned him another chance with his national team.
“I think it (moving to Everton) is so important to my recall,” the 21-cap defender, who has been called up for matches against Iceland and Germany, told evertontv.
“When I came here I wanted to play every week, to enjoy it and discover a new country, a new league, and then see what happens (with France), but now I am so happy.
“I want to say thank you to my team-mates, the coach and the staff and the fans too because they helped me a lot to get the recall.
“We have one friendly game against Iceland and then we play Germany in the Nations League. Every game is important for the national team.
“You are representing your country and it’s important to prove you deserve your place.”
ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Carl Markham, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'bfa4c4ba-4a4f-4e88-85a1-161e55e7aa13');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Move to Everton key to France recall, says Digne'});
