Southgate gives Chelsea duo Abraham, Tomori England call-ups
>> LONDON: Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori were rewarded for a fine start to the season under Frank Lampard with a call-up to the England squad on Thursday for Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
Abraham, who has won two caps for the Three Lions before in friendlies against Brazil and Germany in 2017, had flirted with switching his international allegiance to Nigeria, who he qualifies for through his father.
However, the 22-year-old, who scored his first Champions League goal for the Blues in a 2-1 win in Lille on Wednesday, now looks set to declare for England.
Abraham has scored seven times in seven Premier League games so far this season.
“It was [an easy decision], he’s the leading English scorer in the league,” said Southgate.
Tomori, who could also represent Nigeria and Canada at international level, has also shone at centre-back for Chelsea after playing under Lampard on loan at Derby last season.
Should either Abraham and Tomori feature in the upcoming qualifiers, they would no longer be allowed to switch international allegiance.
Jesse Lingard, Dele Alli and Kyle Walker have all been left out.
The Three Lions travel to face the Czech Republic in Prague on October 11 before a trip to Sofia to take on Bulgaria four days later.
England are in a commanding position to qualify for next year’s European championships after winning all four of their opening qualifiers.