Just imagine a squad that includes three of the four most expensive players of all time, as well as the most costly defender in the world and the most expensive player ever in the Bundesliga. This squad is the France squad.
Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele (though he has not been selected this time by Didier Deschamps because of his contract situation before joining Barcelona), Paul Pogba, Benjamin Mendy (also absent from the current squad for fitness reasons) and Corentin Tolisso: Summer after summer, French players are breaking record after record on the transfer market.
The past two months have been incredible once again, with Mbappe about to be sold by Monaco to Paris Saint-Germain via a loan, Dembele joining Barcelona, Mendy going to Manchester City and Tolisso heading to Bayern. It has all happened in one summer, with Alexandre Lacazette also becoming Arsenal's biggest transfer of all time.
In the next couple of days, Thomas Lemar could become Liverpool's most expensive player ever by a mile if Monaco let him go to Merseyside. Oh, and add €40 million from Chelsea for Tiemoue Bakayoko, €28 million from Bayern Munich for Kingsley Coman (a bargain in the current climate) and €20 million from Juventus for 30-year-old Blaise Matuidi to the summer's business.
Let's not forget that Antoine Griezmann had an agreement with Manchester United before Atletico were hit with a transfer ban, and the star attacker would have be sold for €100 million euros, joining Anthony Martial (who has so far cost Man United €60 million, with €20 million more coming Monaco's way if he reaches 25 caps for France -- he currently has 15 -- and makes the final three for the Ballon d'Or). Potentially, Deschamps could line up a French team worth just shy of 1 billion euros.
The fact that they are the most expensive doesn't mean they are the best, of course, but it is a credit to Ligue 1 and the fantastic work that French academies are doing and have been doing for many years. Clubs around Europe are paying so much because it is worth it. French players are in demand everywhere, and it can only be positive for the national team and for Deschamps.
Any head coach would love to have such an abundance of talent. We say in France that it is a good problem to have so many options and so many great players. But it also adds extra pressure. Deschamps can't get it wrong and can't not win. With such a great golden generation, France will be among the favourites in every big tournament for the next decade. They should have won Euro 2016 at home, but they failed, lacking a bit of luck and suffering when Deschamps and the key players weren't up for it in the final.
Failure is not an option anymore. The young players are more experienced and more talented than ever, but Deschamps will have to find the right formula.
Will he make Mbappe a starter? In which position? Where will Dembele play when he returns to the team? Is Lemar better than Dimitri Payet on the left? Should N'Golo Kante start ahead of Matuidi? Do you revert to a 4-3-3 so you can accommodate a third midfielder such as Tolisso, Bakayoko or Adrien Rabiot? The list goes on: So many questions for the coach, to be answered preferably before next summer's World Cup in Russia. That is, if France qualify.
Indeed, Les Bleus are in a battle with Sweden, currently top of the group with France on goal difference (+8 compared to +6), and the Netherlands just three points behind. The Dutch travel to Paris on Thursday for a mini final in the group.
France are in this difficult situation because Deschamps messed up the match in Sweden in June. He went for caution and experience instead of youth and talent by picking Payet and Moussa Sissoko ahead of Lemar, Dembele or Mbappe, all of whom were on the bench. It backfired: Payet and Sissoko were dreadful, and Hugo Lloris made a huge mistake right at the hand to gift a 2-1 win to the hosts. That defeat has made the clash with the Netherlands on Thursday even more of a "must-win."
This time, Deschamps can't make any mistakes. The players will also have to deliver. Having all this talent and not being a winning team would be such a shame. Next summer, between the semifinals and the final of the World Cup on July 12 in Russia, France will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their only World Cup triumph. It will be time then for that side's heirs to step up.