Matteo Guendouzi's call-up to the French national squad came as a surprise to many... including the sleeping Arsenal midfielder, who was convinced he had dreamt the news.
Guendouzi, 20, had initially been called up to the France Under-21 squad but an injury to Manchester United's Paul Pogba left an opening in the squad that Didier Deschamps opted to fill with the youngster.
Guendouzi has been in exceptional form for Arsenal in the early weeks of the season, starting each of their first four games and earning rave reviews for a display in the north London derby that was capped off with a brilliant assist for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to earn the Gunners a 2-2 draw.
U21 head coach Sylvain Ripoll was tasked with breaking the news to Guendouzi, who admitted he had not been expecting the promotion.
"I was having an afternoon nap, someone knocked at my door, but I didn't hear it, because I was asleep," Guendouzi revealed. "Then the coach rang me, he said it was me who knocked, so I went to see him directly.
"He said: 'We need to speak, I really like you, but you need to go.' I was confused, I was like, where? He said: 'The A team.' In my head I was like wow, I didn't believe it initially because 10 minutes earlier I was sleeping.
"I thought I was still in a dream.
"Then the coach spoke to me some more, explained the situation that I was with the senior team and its a dream. Thankfully I took a shower after, so that it could properly sink in.
"I think the coach can describe my reaction better than I can, but my eyes popped out of my head.
"It is a big surprise for me today. This is a dream of mine since I was a kid.
"This is extraordinary, I think that any French player would want to be in this team. It is ginormous. There aren't enough words to describe how it feels."
Though the news may have come as a surprise to Guendouzi it perhaps should not have with head coach Didier Deschamps having been monitoring the youngster's progress at Arsenal since October 2018.
