Southgate gives youth a chance
● England boss looks ahead with new deal
Gareth Southgate has made a major overhaul of his England squad, including a series of unexpected names in the boldest selection of his two years in charge.
Teenagers Jadon Sancho, the Borussia Dortmund winger, and Mason Mount, 18, on loan at Derby County from Chelsea, and 21-year-old Leicester City midfielder James Maddison have been selected in the senior England team for the first time. Sancho, 18, is the first player born this millennium to be called up for England.
They have been joined by Watford midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah, 23, who has been reduced to limited appearances this season due to injury. Ross Barkley, the 24-year-old Chelsea forward, and Tottenham midfielder Harry Winks, 22, who has recently returned from long-term injury with an ankle problem, return to the England set-up. Chalobah and Winks previously received their first call-ups under Southgate and Barkley has not played for England in two and a half years.
The gaps have opened up in the squad, for the upcoming Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain, due to injury and a lack of playing time for several players.
Dele Alli has a hamstring injury, first revealed by i last week, and Jesse Lingard and Adam Lallana have groin issues. Fabian Delph and Ruben Loftus-cheek are struggling for fitness but neither has played many minutes this season.
“We are always conscious of the balance of how quickly we put those young players in and raise expectation around them and make sure that we don’t detrimentally affect their development,” said Southgate, pictured.
“But we think they are performing well with their clubs, they’re confident players. We’d like to work with them now – they get an understanding of how we work, we get a closer look at them. Quite a few of them have trained with us at various times here anyway so we’re excited to see them.”
The squad selection is an indication that Southgate is looking to the future after yesterday signing a contract extension to take him up to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, improving his wages from £1.8 million to around £3m.