Mason Greenwood’s continued exclusion from the England squad is self-imposed and comes with Gareth Southgate’s blessing.
Greenwood is one of a number of young players who have elected not to be included in the full or Under-21 squads since the summer. Jude Bellingham stood himself down from the October internationals and Callum Hudson-Odoi chose not to accept a place in the Under-21s in this rotation in order to focus on tying down a first-team place at Chelsea.
Whilst Southgate respects Hudson-Odoi’s decision, he was openly supportive of Bellingham, who returns this time, and Greenwood, whom he visited in Manchester in September to discuss the reasons behind his decision to withdraw.
Southgate emphasised that his absence was not in any way connected to events in Iceland last year when Greenwood broke Covid regulations in the team hotel with Phil Foden.
“We had a good chat with Mason and his family and agreed we would park this until next year,” he confirmed. “He wants to play for England. He is clear about that. We have worked with lots of young players and understand this journey they are going on. It is our job to help these boys to progress and develop aligned with the clubs.
“He recognises if he doesn’t get it right over a longer period, doesn’t nail down the situation at the club then maybe there isn’t an England career anyway. This is his and his family’s only chance [to make a success of his career] and they are understandably a lot more cautious than we might be.
“We believe he is good enough to be with us. I think I have probably said as much as I feel appropriate because we are talking about a young player. It is important people understand we are working with him.”
Only Mo Salah, Michail Antonio, Sadio Mane and Jamie Vardy, have scored more Premier League goals than Greenwood so far this campaign.
The 20-year-old has scored four goals and provided an assist in 13 appearances for his club in all competitions, but has been named as a substitute in both of United’s games since the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool last month.
“He’s got a challenge there now of course with the forward line that they’ve played in the last few games but I’m sure that’s going to change with the number of matches that they have to play and we’ll continue to watch him really closely.”
Southgate argued Hudson-Odoi’s England prospects would, however, be better served by joining up with the Under 21s.
The winger has benefited from injuries to Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner by starting in each of Chelsea’s last three games and he has caught the eye in those outings, scoring in the 7-0 destruction of Norwich and providing a match-winning assist against Malmo in midweek.
“He feels he would be best served staking a case for the team with Chelsea,” Southgate said. “I think he has a better chance of impressing us if he is with the Under-21s as well, frankly.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2ZTEoxO
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