Mathieu Valbuena's lawyer says his client has not changed his position over the court case involving France teammate Karim Benzema, despite the midfielder indicating he would be willing to play with the striker at Euro 2016.
Benzema, 28, was charged with conspiracy to blackmail for an alleged role in an attempt to extort money from France teammate Valbuena using a sex tape.
The Real Madrid forward is accused of being approached by a childhood friend to act as an intermediary between the blackmailers and 31-year-old Lyon midfielder Valbuena.
Benzema has denied any wrongdoing, but has been suspended from the French national team indefinitely until the case is resolved.
Last week it was revealed that his lawyers' efforts to set up a meeting between the players had been rejected by the investigating judge.
In an interview broadcast on Sunday, however, Valbuena told Telefoot that "anything is possible" and that he would have "no problem" playing with Benzema again.
On Monday Le Monde printed what it said was some of Valbuena's testimony to the judge on Nov. 20, which led to suggestions that the player's latest interview had marked the start of a more conciliatory approach.
But Valbuena's lawyer Didier Domat rejected the idea that his client had changed his stance to try to boost his own chances of being selected for France's Euro 2016 squad.
"What Le Monde revealed [on Monday] changes nothing," Domat told L'Equipe.
"Don't forget that after his hearing, we clearly stated that Mathieu, for who the French team means a lot, was intelligent enough to put his personal interests behind the interests of the French team and, if circumstances dictated it, there would be no problem for him being on a pitch with Karim Benzema again. That was said during his hearing.
"Today you're saying to us that he's done a U-turn because he said he could eventually be on the pitch with Karim Benzema... but what's new in that compared to our comments after his hearing?"
Valbuena told Telefoot that "there hadn't been a murder" but, rather than that statement amounting to a change of position, Domat called it "a statement of the obvious."
Domat added: "We said to the judge what we had to say and we will keep to what we said. Now it's time to let the justice system do its work.
"But I repeat that we're not excluding the fact that Mathieu might, in the interest of French football, find himself in the French team with Karim Benzema again."