Cole Palmer, Rico Lewis and Ezri Konsa get first England call-ups
Gareth Southgate has given Cole Palmer, Rico Lewis and Ezri Konsa their first England call-ups after several withdrawals from his squad for the final Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia.
Palmer, Chelsea’s £40m summer signing from Manchester City, has been rewarded for his impressive start at Stamford Bridge with a promotion from Lee Carsley’s England Under-21s squad. The 21-year-old received his call a day after scoring a stoppage-time equaliser against his former club in a remarkable 4-4 draw.
Lewis, who can operate at full-back and in midfield, has been selected by Southgate after starting only two Premier League games for City this season. The 18-year-old has also been promoted from the Under-21s, where he has made four appearances.
Konsa, who won the Under-20
World Cup with England in 2017, has played every minute of Aston Villa’s fine start to the Premier League season.
He is used mainly as a centre-back by the Villa manager, Unai Emery, but can also play at right-back.
The selection of the trio follows the withdrawal through injury of James Maddison, Callum Wilson and Lewis Dunk from Southgate’s squad. Jude Bellingham, who was due to report on Monday along with most of the squad to St George’s Park, is also expected to withdraw owing to a shoulder problem that has forced him to miss Real Madrid’s past two games.
Despite the absentees there remains no place for Raheem Sterling, who has not played for England since the World Cup quarter-final defeat by France in Qatar. Sterling missed England’s games in March through injury and asked not to be selected in June as he built fitness for the season with Chelsea. He has not been selected since.
England, who have qualified for Euro 2024, face Malta at Wembley on Friday and North Macedonia away three days later.