Thomas Lemar’s rise to prominence was meteoric during Monaco’s remarkable title-winning 2016-17 season but that ascent has stalled on the eve of France’s tilt at the 2018 World Cup.
The record-breaking transfer to Liverpool or elsewhere that looked in the offing following the end of that 10-goal campaign is now a distant memory for the 22-year-old following an injury-stunted time of indifferent showings and regular stick from the ASM fans.
The question arises of how that might jeopardize his chances of sealing a place in France’s 23-man World Cup squad, with the newly resurgent footballing nation’s manager Didier Deschamps having no lack of attacking options at his disposal.
His squad will not be announced until 17 May, having been delayed until after the Europa League final in Lyon, a move the French Football Federation explained as being taken "in order not to disturb the preparations of the French players from Marseille and Atletico Madrid."
Lemar made his last couple of starts for the national side in friendlies; first in a scoring display when lining up from the start in a defeat to Columbia and, then, as an 85th-minute substitute in a 3-1 win over with next summer’s hosts Russia.
The places of Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe on the next French trip east look secure, with others, such as the injury-affected Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele scrapping for space on the parameters.
Lemar's appearing in both recent games will likely give him faith that his manager has him bolted into his plans, but the fine form of Olympique Lyonnais captain Nabil Fekir - who has, reportedly, sealed the Premier League move to Liverpool that Lemar failed to last summer - as well as the improved showings of OM pairing Dimitri Payet and Florian Thauvin, leave competition for places in the attacking midfield berths hot and the Monaco man's domestic dip might just cost him a seat on the plane.
Should he be left to watch his compatriots take on the world’s best from the sofa this summer, he may well wish that the scintillating form of his breakout season could have come just that bit later than it did.
