Corentin Tolisso espère que son transfert du Bayern Munich à Lyon contribuera à assurer son retour dans le giron français avant la Coupe du monde.

Le retour du joueur de 27 ans à Lyon, avec qui il a commencé sa carrière, a été confirmé vendredi après l’expiration de son contrat avec le Bayern.

Tolisso a passé cinq campagnes chargées de trophées à l’Allianz Arena, mais n’a commencé que 12 matchs dans toutes les compétitions au cours d’une campagne 2021-22 en proie aux blessures.

Il n’a pas joué du tout en France la saison dernière, la plus récente de ses 28 sélections ayant eu lieu lors de l’Euro 2020 reprogrammé l’année dernière.

Mais après son retour à Lyon pour un contrat de cinq ans, Tolisso envisage une place dans l’équipe de Didier Deschamps à temps pour Qatar 2022.

“Je n’ai pas parlé à [Deschamps about the decision. It was a personal one, though I talked a lot about it with my agents and my family,” he said at a news conference.

“We said it was the best decision for me. The future will tell if I was right or wrong. Lyon is the right club for me to return to the French team and go to the World Cup.

“I am very proud and happy to be back in Lyon. The project seduced me. It’s a good thing for me and my personal goal, which is to play in the World Cup.”

Tolisso was a member of France’s World Cup-winning squad four years ago and also won five Bundesliga titles and the Champions League during his time in Bavaria.

Injuries, including a cruciate ligament rupture that ruled the midfielder out for the majority of the 2018-19 season, restricted him to 118 games in five years with Bayern.

However, the Lyon youth product feels he learned a lot with the German giants and does not believe his injury issues are any longer a concern.

“I learned on both a human and professional level,” he said. “I remember the trophies and how we won them. There are many things to remember. 

“I remember a lot of positive things. Of course, there were not only positive things, but that’s also part of life, that’s how it is. The negative experiences helped me to grow.

“I have gained more maturity and experience; I have learned a lot at Bayern Munich in these five years. I grew and learnt a new system, a new culture, a new mentality.

“As for the injuries, I passed the medical, which is already a good point. It’s true that I had problems.

“I previously said that my worries were more psychological and mental than physical, for reasons I won’t necessarily reveal today. 

“A lot of things have been going on in my head over the last year that have influenced the large number of injuries I’ve had. I did a lot of physical preparation. 

“Now I am ready. I passed some [physical] essais hier. Ça s’est très bien passé pour que tout le monde soit serein sur ma condition physique. Il n’y aura pas de problème”.