After there were reports suggesting that Djamel Belmadi could call up Zinedine Zidane's son Luca to his Africa Cup of Nations-winning squad, the Algeria boss has now commented on the rumours.
It was reported that Luca Zidane would be keen to switch his international allegiance after qualifying via his grandparents.
His father famously played for France and led the European nation to victory at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, while Luca has represented Les Bleus at youth level.
With it being believed that the 22-year-old open to the idea of playing for Algeria, Belmadi was said to have made contact with the goalkeeper.
However, the Algerian Football Association and Africa's 2019 Coach of the Year have both denied those claims.
"The Algerian Football Association and coach Djamel Belmadi categorically deny having had any contact with Jonathan Schmid and Luca Zidane," an AFF statement read, per KingFut.
"(SC Freiburg midfielder Jonathan Schmid, who was also reportedly set for an Algeria call-up) spoke to France Football about this and was reported by several media outlets," Belmadi added.
"Maybe he was contacted by someone impersonating me. I have never spoken to this player, either directly or indirectly.
"I refute this news and the same goes for Luca Zidane."
Luca is the second-eldest of Zinedine Zidane's four sons, who are all trying to make a living in football, but play in the shadow of their famous father.
