A number of England’s most expensive players will NOT play at Euro 2024.
Gareth Southgate confirmed his 26-man squad for this summer’s European Championship in Germany on Thursday and there were a number of shock big-name omissions.
talkSPORT created a potential England billion-pound XI last month, with Harry Maguire in a centre-back pairing with John Stones.
Now, the Manchester United defender – who sealed a £80million move from Leicester to Old Trafford in 2019 – is one of many big-money stars that will be watching the tournament back home having failed to recover fully from a calf injury.
Jack Grealish is another player who previously had a huge price tag who has been dropped for the tournament.
The former Aston Villa captain played for Southgate at Euro 2020, earning his £100million move to Manchester City in the summer of 2021.
He also represented England at the 2022 World Cup, but this time he hasn’t made the cut.
James Maddison moved to Tottenham from Leicester last summer, signing for Spurs for £40million.
The midfielder admitted he felt ‘devastated’ after being left out of Southgate’s plans this summer despite making the provisional squad.
Addressing dropping Grealish and Maddison, Southgate said in his press conference: “All the players took the news really respectfully. Of course, all players will think they should be in and that’s why they are top players.
“They have that self-belief and mindset, but the fact is we have some players who have been playing extremely well in the league all season.
“We just felt other players had stronger seasons particularly in the last six months or so.”
Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling, who sealed a £47.5million switch to Stamford Bridge from Man City in 2022, isn’t going to a major tournament for the first time since the 2014 World Cup.
Like Sterling, fellow England veterans Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford didn’t make the cut for the provisional or final squads either.
Henderson’s underwhelming £12million move from Liverpool to Saudi Arabia’s Al Ettifaq saw him sign for Ajax on a free and miss out on being included this summer.
Meanwhile, Euro 2020 star and 2022 World Cup squad member Kalvin Phillips has made 31 appearances for Man City since a £45million transfer from Leeds in July 2022.
Pep Guardiola admitted in December he cannot envisage the midfielder in his team, and his disappointing loan at West Ham in the second half of last season has seen him miss out on playing for England completely this summer.
Although Arsenal’s Ben White has made it clear he doesn’t want to be called up for England, he’s still another expensive English talent left at home this summer.
White moved to the Emirates Stadium from Brighton for £50million in 2022 and played a key role in helping the Gunners push for the title.
