Rennes forward Esteban Lepaul, Ligue 1's top scorer last season with 21 goals, is among the players to have received a first pre-call-up from the new head coach, according to reports in France this week.
The 26-year-old, whose route to the top flight ran through Épinal, Orléans and Angers before a move to Rennes last August, has started this campaign with three goals in as many league games.
Paris FC winger Pablo Pagis and Lens defender Ismaëlo Ganiou have also been pre-selected for the first time. Pagis, 23, scored 10 goals and provided five assists for Lorient last season before joining Paris FC over the summer, where he has already established himself as a starter and set up a goal in a 3-2 win over Marseille.
Ganiou, 21, has stepped away from Burkina Faso's senior set-up in recent months to pursue a place with France, having become a regular for Lens.
Inter Milan's Andy Diouf, in strong form as a right wing-back in Italy this season after his move from RC Lens, and Lens midfielder Matthieu Udol have also been mentioned among the contenders for a maiden call-up, with Zidane understood to be tracking Ligue 1 and its exports closely as he builds his first squad.
According to Le Parisien, midfielder Enzo Le Fée has recently learned of his own pre-selection. The former Lorient and Rennes player, now impressing at Sunderland this season, has caught Zidane's eye with his versatility across midfield.
Zidane, who replaced Didier Deschamps as France head coach after the latter's contract with the federation expired, will name his first squad on 18 September, his first as a national team head coach after ending his playing and club-management career with spells including Real Madrid. Les Bleus face four Nations League fixtures in the weeks that follow: away to Turkey on 25 September, away to Belgium four days later, at home to Italy on 2 October, and a return meeting with Belgium on French soil on 5 October.