Rennes manager Rolland Courbis has hit out at France under-21 boss Pierre Mankowski for playing Ousmane Dembele for close to the full 90 minutes in both this month's European Championship qualifiers.
Dembele, 18, is attracting interest from clubs including Bayern Munich and Barcelona after a series of fine performances in his Ligue 1 debut season.
After scoring 10 times and adding five assists in 19 league games, Dembele was called up to the under-21 squad this month.
The Rennes academy graduate started the 2-0 win over Scotland on Thursday before being taken off two minutes from time in a 1-1 draw with Macedonia on Monday.
Rennes are fifth in Ligue 1, just two points off third place, and Courbis was annoyed to see one of his star players used so much.
"It was his second cap, after 90 minutes on Thursday, and you'd have to be blind not to see that he was tired after 45 minutes," L'Equipe quoted him as saying.
"He had no gas left. After that, I was afraid he would injure himself every time he touched the ball and I regret too that a national team manager might not call the [club] coach to discuss in footballing terms the way to use him.
"So as not to risk an injury on Saturday [against Reims], I think I'm going to have to save him and that he will play only 45 minutes."
Courbis questioned whether this had happened because Rennes were seen as an insignificant, but Mankowski pointed out that Dembele had been used extensively at club level.
But the player told L'Equipe: "I feel good and I'm going to recover.
"There's a very important match on Saturday, but we're with the national team and you have to give everything for the country.
"There are five days to recover. It's enough. I'm young and I recover quickly. The more matches I play, the happier I am."