The official England national team squad has been announced ahead of their upcoming EURO 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia next month.
The most notable ommision is Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling (28). As reported by David Ornstein, the ex-Manchester City forward and England boss Gareth Southgate came to a mutual decision to leave him out of the squad, after talks took place between the two. Sterling, who has been capped 82 times by England, still remains part of Southgates future plans, however the decision has been taken to allow Sterling to focus on recovering his body before next season- with Southgate stating “he’s not happy physically with his condition”.
Sterling was purchased by Chelsea from the Citizens for a fee believed to be in the region of £47.9m, but has had a disappointing debut season at the West London club, accumulating just nine goal involvements in 27 Premier League appearances, his lowest tally since his first season at City in the 2015/16 season.
Lewis Dunk (31) has also been named in the England squad after an impressive season, captaining his boyhood side Brighton as they achieved a spot in European football next season. The centre-back has only made one appearance for England, which came against USA in 2018.
Tyrone Mings, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Callum Wilson have also been recalled to the squad, whilst Arsenal defender Benjamin White misses out.
Wilson returns to the squad to replace Brentford striker Ivan Toney, who drops out of the side due to his recent eight-month suspension following betting offences.
England will travel to Malta on Friday 6th June, before facing North Macedonia at Wembley three days later on Monday 19th June. Southgate’s side have already played two matches in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, beating current Euro Champions Italy and Ukraine.
Travis Levison | Get Football
