France boss Didier Deschamps has backed central defender Mamadou Sakho after an injury-hit season that has seen him make only 13 Premier League appearances for Liverpool.
Deschamps named both Sakho and Real Madrid's Raphael Varane in his squad for the friendlies against Brazil and Denmark later this month despite both having stop-start campaigns at club level this term.
Speaking at a news conference, Deschamps said: "Mamadou has been injured, but he has come back -- and when he came back, he's competitive again.
"The most important thing is the potential of the player. Over 10 months, they can't be at 100 percent all the time."
The coach said Varane, who has made 18 La Liga appearances but failed to displace Pepe and Sergio Ramos as Carlo Ancelotti's preferred centre-half pairing, "has played a lot of games."
He added: "I don't just settle for reading newspaper reports, I watch every game.
"There can come a time when he's not quite so good -- that depends on the form of his team.
"But their value is the same as it was in Brazil."