England Squad Announced: Bellingham and Phil Omitted, Saka Makes Comeback
The England manager has opted to stick with the same Three Lions selection that secured victory against their previous opponents and produced a stellar performance in Serbia last month, finding no place for the Real Madrid star and the Manchester City attacker in his group for the forthcoming exhibition match against the Welsh side and the qualifying match in the Baltic nation.
Despite Phil Foden making a strong case for a return to the squad after rediscovering his form at Manchester City, and Jude Bellingham having returned for Real Madrid following a surgical procedure, the head coach has decided against selecting two of the country's biggest attacking talents. Bellingham has started just a single time for his club since his return.
The England boss has made room for Bukayo Saka, who is back to fitness and has been reinstated in place of his injured club colleague the sidelined player. Jack Grealish has not received a recall.
Complete Three Lions Squad List
Shot-stoppers
- Crystal Palace's keeper (his club)
- Everton's number one (Everton)
- Manchester City's goalkeeper (Manchester City)
Defenders
- Dan Burn (the Magpies)
- Marc Guéhi (the Eagles)
- Reece James (the Blues)
- Aston Villa's defender (Aston Villa)
- Arsenal's young talent (the Gunners)
- Jarell Quansah (the German club)
- Tottenham's defender (Spurs)
- Manchester City's star (the Sky Blues)
Engine room
- Elliot Anderson (Forest)
- Nottingham Forest's playmaker (Nottingham Forest)
- Brentford's experienced head (Brentford)
- Ruben Loftus-Cheek (the Italian side)
- Arsenal's anchor (Arsenal)
- Aston Villa's talent (Aston Villa)
Attackers
- West Ham's forward (the Hammers)
- Arsenal's attacker (Arsenal)
- Newcastle's winger (Newcastle United)
- Harry Kane (the German giants)
- Barcelona's loanee (the Catalan club, loan from Manchester United)
- Arsenal's star (the Gunners)
- Ollie Watkins (Villa)
The national team coach expressed his admiration for the vibrancy in last month's squad and seems intent on keeping the same atmosphere. The Newcastle defender, who featured at the defensive flank in the convincing victory in Serbia, has been ruled out due to a knee injury. The manager has opted against selecting a like-for-like substitute for the Magpies star but has included John Stones, who had to pull out previously. He has spoken about the centre-back's importance for the national team and has suggested deploying him in the middle of the park.
No spot has been found for Adam Wharton, who was selected last month but withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
The manager stated: “It was only three weeks since the last camp and the last win, the last performance, so the question was why not select the same group in because they set the standard. The focus now is on building routines out of it. We have regrettably a couple of fitness issues at the moment with Livramento and Noni and we welcome of course Bukayo Saka in to take the place of Noni. The defender was a last-minute addition previously; he will remain with the squad.”