The seven players Gareth Southgate could cut for England’s final 26-man Euro 2024 squad with dilemmas across the park
GARETH SOUTHGATE has left himself with a selection headache ahead of the Euros.
The England boss has announced one of his most surprising and exciting provisional squads since taking the job back in 2016.
While 33 players have been selected, the likes of Marcus Rashford, Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell have all been omitted.
However, after friendlies against Bosnia and Iceland, Southgate needs to cut a further seven players to make the 26-man cut for the Euros by June 7 – so who is likely to get the chop?
SunSport’s Jordan Davies selects his unlucky men to miss out:
JAMES TRAFFORD
- GOALKEEPER
- BURNLEY
- AGE: 21
- CAPS: 0
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A mixed season at Burnley under Vincent Kompany, playing a bold and expansive style of play that was ultimately found out in the Premier League and saw them relegated.
Has a bright future ahead of him, but even he would admit that this tournament has come too soon.
LEWIS DUNK
- CENTRAL DEFENDER
- BRIGHTON
- AGE: 32
- CAPS: 5
Despite England’s issues in the centre of defence, Dunk is likely to miss the cut, especially after his calamitous outing against Belgium and Romelu Lukaku back in March.
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Perhaps harsh on the Seagulls stalwart, in what is his last chance to make a major tournament with England, but Southgate cannot afford to have any passengers.
JARELL QUANSAH
- CENTRAL DEFENDER
- LIVERPOOL
- AGE: 21
- CAPS: 0
A real statement of how much progress the Reds youngster has made that he has even been considered for the Euros.
Southgate will use this time to take a good look at him ahead of future squad announcements. It would be a huge shock if he was to get on the plane to Germany.
CURTIS JONES
- CENTRAL MIDFIELDER
- LIVERPOOL
- AGE: 23
- CAPS: 0
Jones will be excited at the potential of winning his first senior cap for his country in the upcoming friendlies having starred for England’s U21s in recent years.
Anything more than that will be a real bonus for Jones, who is up against the likes of Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham to win a starting spot…
JARROD BOWEN
- WINGER
- WEST HAM
- AGE: 27
- CAPS: 7
He started the season on fire with 11 Prem goals between August and January, but his form since then has come at the exact wrong time, ending with 16 Prem goals this term.
A decent tally, but those sorts of numbers are just not enough to break into one of the most exciting attacking groups England have ever had.
JAMES MADDISON
- ATTACKING MIDFIELDER
- TOTTENHAM
- AGE: 27
- CAPS: 6
Injury halted his impressive start for Spurs this campaign, as well as his form. The assists dried up as the North Londoners blew a Prem top-four spot.
Having failed to make an appearance from the bench at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Maddison finds himself in a dangerous position of missing out on the Euros altogether.
OLLIE WATKINS
- STRIKER
- ASTON VILLA
- AGE: 28
- CAPS: 11
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Ollie Watkins or Ivan Toney? That is the burning question Southgate will need to answer, and it may well come down to who can perform better in a shoot-out.
Watkins has had a stunning season with 27 goals in all competitions, but Toney is the best penalty-taker in the world – can you really afford to leave that at home?
'Mr Conservate takes machete to squad'
INTERNATIONAL football’s Mr Conservative has taken a machete to his squad in one of the most brutal England squad shake-ups in recent memory.
Gareth Southgate has built a reputation in the Three Lions hot-seat by sticking to what he knows, and who he knows, in order to navigate major tournaments without any dramas.
Reliable, experienced faces with trust in the bank and little to no surprises on offer that have managed to reach finals and semi-finals in tournaments gone by.
But ahead of this summer’s Euros – a competition that England are expected to win and win well – Southgate appears to be throwing caution to the wind in a bid to excite and amaze.
Ben Chilwell, Jordan Henderson, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling have all been left out of Southgate’s provisional 30-man squad – the latter three boarded the plane to Qatar in November 2022.
And in come the young guns – Crystal Palace duo Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton, Liverpool’s Curtis Jones and Jarell Quansah, Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite and Burnley keeper James Trafford.
Is Southgate finally picking on current form and potential instead of past heroics? It looks that way.
The future is bright, and Southgate is ready to shake things up in order to reflect that.
