Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho have both missed out on a spot in England’s latest squad, while Brentford striker Ivan Toney has made his first call-up.
Gareth Southgate’s squad for the upcoming international break has few surprise additions, with the likes of Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Harry Maguire now firmly for the national side.
Eric Dier has been called back into the squad after a strong start to the season for Tottenham and there is a spot back for Crystal Palace youngster Marc Guehi, who made his England debut earlier this year.
There will likely be stiff competition for the No 1 shirt as Dean Henderson, Aaron Ramsdale and Nick Pope are all performing well at their respective clubs. Jordan Pickford’s injury could give one of the three an opportunity to bid for the position ahead of the World Cup.
James Ward-Prowse is one of the relatively few out-and-out central midfielders, although the likes of Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Eric Dier can all slip into midfield roles.
Another notable name left out of the squad is Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher, who appears to have been part of Thomas Tuchel’s plans for this season before being sent off against Leicester.
Ben White and James Justin have also been dropped from the previous squad and Sancho’s struggle for consistency at Manchester United has clearly left Southgate unfazed.
“This is a bigger squad than normal and part of the reason is that we are very close to a World Cup and we feel that although our results were disappointing over the summer we have played for a long time based on form and ability selected,” Southgate explained while preparing his team for the upcoming Nations League fixtures against Italy and Germany.
“There were certain players that we wanted to keep involved this time, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end for some of the others who aren’t involved.
“Marcus Rashford, for example, has shown some encouraging signs of late. He’s a player we know well. So if he can play at a high level in the next few weeks then of course he will be considered.
“Obviously we have a number of players including Ben Chilwell, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips who don’t play many minutes with their clubs.
“It’s not ideal, but we believe they were and can be important players for us. It’s not a perfect situation but there is still a lot of football to play before Qatar.
“He’s been playing well with Eric Dier for a while. We think it’s a very close decision for our centre-back and he deserves to be included in the group again. We know what a good character he is. He fits into the culture and has great international experience and leadership skills.
“With Ivan Toney, we’ve been following him for a long time. I had a good chat with [Brentford manager] Thomas Frank about him last season.
“His form and qualities – not just his scoring but also his technical ability, build-up play and header power – give us a different threat than some of the other players we might pick.”
England meet Italy in Milan on Friday 23 September before hosting Germany at Wembley on Monday 26 September. Both games begin at 7:45 p.m.
England squad:
Goalkeepers: Nick Pope (Newcastle), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), Dean Henderson (Nottingham Forest, on loan from Manchester United).
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Conor Coady (on loan to Everton from Wolves), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Manchester) . United), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Manchester City).
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Declan Rice (West Ham), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton).
Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Roma), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Ivan Toney ( Brentford)
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