France manager Didier Deschamps shocked the footballing world as he picked Karim Benzema in his squad for the Euros last week.

Karim Benzema has always been a top-notch striker, but he was overlooked in the national team for the past six years due to some off the field discipline reasons.

Karim Benzema has become the main man at Santiago Bernabéu after Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Juventus. He not only helped Real Madrid win the La Liga title last season, but also scored an impressive 22 goals this time around.

Benzema and his fans were expectedly elated after his name was announced in the squad, but one of his Real Madrid teammate was excited to hear the news as well.

“Of course, I am very happy that Karim is back in the team. For 5-6 years I was in a difficult position when I was asked about him,” Varane told reporters on Thursday, a day after Les Bleus gathered at its training camp ahead of Euro 2020, in which it faces Germany, Hungary and Portugal in Group F.

“One of Karim’s greatest qualities is to play with others,” Varane said. “He has this ability to link players together. That’s what we expect from him, that he plays his game.”

Karim Benzema will have to share the attacking work load with quality teammates such as Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, both of who were influential in France’s world cup victory three years ago.

Benzema is expected to start as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation which will have Kylian Mbappe playing on the left flank and Antoine Griezmann playing just behind the Real Madrid number 9. Karim Benzema’s ability to creative chances and space for other attacking players can never be overstated and will help someone like Kylian Mbappe.

France has a tough group which includes two heavy weights in the form of Germany and Portugal. France is the odds-on favourites to win the trophy after failing to do so at the 2016 edition. France plays its first warm-up game against Wales in Nice next Wednesday.