England manager Gareth Southgate insisted that Mason Greenwood was “very much” part of his plans after leaving the Manchester United striker out of his latest squad – choosing instead to hand Leeds United’s Patrick Bamford a first call-up.
Greenwood, 19, has scored twice in Manchester United’s opening two Premier League games – making it six goals in his last eight league matches – and was expected to be named in Southgate’s first squad since finishing runner-up at Euro 2020.
Southgate explained, however, that he is liaising closely with the player, his family and his club to ensure he is developed in the best way possible and opted not to call on him for the upcoming Qatar World Cup qualifiers against Hungary, Andorra and Poland.
“He is in our thoughts, very much,” Southgate said. “I’ve spoken with him and with his club. He’s a player we really like and we think he’s got every possibility to be a top England player.
“We’re all very conscious that we make that progression at the right time. He is just breaking into the team at Manchester United with a lot of responsibility. That’s a big thing for a young player to deal with and we want to get that progression with our seniors as well as we possibly can so that we get the best possible player at the end.
“So we’re all aligned on that – Mason, the club, his family, us – and we feel at the moment the best thing for him after these first few games is he stays with his club. But he’s very much a player that we like. It’s clear on his performances at the moment he would warrant being in the squad.”
Bamford, 27, scored 17 goals in Leeds United’s first season back in the Premier League last season and was close to making the England squad during that period. He is yet to score in three appearances for Leeds this season, but Southgate wants to use this international break to see how Bamford adapts to the camp.
The England manager handed a similar chance to Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins last March, when he scored in a World Cup qualifier against San Marino, and in the warm-up friendlies before the European Championship.
“This is obviously a fresh cycle,” Southgate said. “We were always going to pick the bulk of the squad from the summer. “We’re only two games into a new season so we were never looking to make a lot of changes.”
Defender Ben White is missing from the latest squad due to Covid, left-back Ben Chilwell has not played since Chelsea won the Champions League final while Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford are injured.
Southgate sees Bamford as a potential backup for Tottenham striker Harry Kane.
“We were very pleased with what Ollie Watkins did at the end of last season and now is an opportunity for Patrick as a number nine as well,” Southgate explained. “I think his progress with Leeds has been excellent, it was a very close thing at the end of last season with us and this is a good chance for him to come back in.”
Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has been recalled to the squad, as has Jesse Lingard, who narrowly missed out on a place in the Euro 2020 squad.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3jk5C8k
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