March 16, (THEWILL) – There are a few surprises as England Manager, Gareth Southgate, announced his first post-World Cup squad on Thursday.
The squad announced has some notable omissions and surprise inclusions. For the latter, Ivan Toney has been handed a recall despite facing betting charges while Raheem Sterling and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been left out of the team completely.
Although the exclusion of Sterling is believed to be due to fitness concerns, there are some other changes to the team that may have been seen as expected, especially with Conor Coady being dropped and Marc Guehi replacing him.
Still, some decisions are head-scratching. Ben White, who has had a revealingly excellent season at Arsenal was left out and Kyle Walker was included in the squad, despite recent controversy surrounding his behaviour at a pub. Harry Maguire, who has been out of action for Manchester United, is also in the team.
Also, Reece James and Ben Chilwell are back in the squad after recovering from injury, but Alexander-Arnold is among the casualties of a disappointing season at Liverpool. The decision to recall Toney has resulted in Callum Wilson being left out of the squad.
The squad in full:
Goalkeepers
Jordan Pickford (Everton)
Nick Pope (Newcastle)
Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders
Kieran Trippier (Newcastle)
Reece James (Chelsea)
John Stones (Manchester City)
Harry Maguire (Manchester United)
Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur)
Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace)
Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Ben Chilwell (Chelsea)
Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
Midfielders
Declan Rice (West Ham United)
Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City)
Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
Conor Gallagher (Chelsea)
Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
Mason Mount (Chelsea)
James Maddison (Leicester City)
Forwards
Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Jack Grealish (Manchester City)
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Ivan Toney (Brentford)
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
