France manager Didier Deschamps says there can still be a place for Jeremy Menez in his national team, and issued a word of caution to Paul Pogba over the star's development.
AC Milan forward Menez was not included in Deschamps' 23-man squad for the World Cup, but the former Juventus coach insists he has not ruled him out entirely.
He believes he is now playing in his most natural position at club level, and therefore has every chance of convincing him he warrants a return.
"He is more of a centre-forward and that is how he started out at Sochaux," Deschamps told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Menez is more of a centre-forward because if you play out wide, you have more defensive work to do and that's not what he does best.
"He's got quality and a good technique to make a difference in the final third. Menez scores goals, but he always has done and he has always created plenty too. However, despite being a centre-forward, he's not the typical goal scorer.
"As national team coach, I have to make my choices and he is one of the 50 players I have in mind. It's just there's a lot of competition up front with [Karim] Benzema, [Olivier] Giroud, [Andre-Pierre] Gignac and the other youngsters, but I know him and I know what he can do."
Deschamps has also got to know Juventus' Paul Pogba over the past 18 months, saying he has seen things out of the ordinary in the 21-year-old.
At the same time, however, Deschamps has warned the midfielder that he must not let all of his talent go to waste, saying he still has a lot to learn if he is to fulfil his own dream of becoming the best player in the world.
"At his age, he does things that other people cannot do," Deschamps, 46, said. "Everything is so easy for him, but he must not fall into the trap of starting to take things lightly. I don't want to censure his instinct for the spectacular touches, but he needs to understand better when and where to do them.
"That will make him become even better. It's only right that people are talking about him, but he needs to deal with both the praise and the criticism. He wasn't happy with what people were saying about him at the World Cup."
Deschamps believes Pogba needs to sharpen up his defensive play to make him a more rounded player.
"He can play anywhere across the midfield," he said. "He knows very well how to get into a shooting position, but he also needs to remember to do the same runs in the opposite direction."