Several members of the England squad have allegedly been left bemused as to why Gareth Southgate has left Jack Grealish out of his squad for Euro 2024.
The 28-year-old can claim to have enjoyed a relatively successful campaign from a club perspective having won his third Premier League title with Manchester City.
However, it has been mixed from an individual perspective with just 10 starts and 10 substitute outings coming in the top flight, Grealish providing just one assist since the turn of the year.
Partially due to his seniority, Grealish managed to retain his spot in England's 33-player preliminary squad for the friendlies with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland.
During the first fixture on Monday evening, the playmaker was one of the highlights as his second-half substitute appearance helped spark England into life as they posted a 3-0 victory at St James' Park.
As such, he was heavily odds-on to earn a place in the final 26-player group, yet his name was one of seven to be excluded from Southgate's final plans.
England teammates left shocked by Grealish omission
According to The Telegraph, there is a level of disappointment and surprise over Grealish not being selected by Southgate.
The report claims that one senior player took the approach to question Southgate over why Grealish's qualities were not perceived to be a valuable asset for the upcoming tournament in Germany.
While it is added there was no argument of any kind, the senior player in question wanted an explanation to pass onto the rest of the squad.
What has Southgate said publicly?
At a press conference which followed the squad announcement, Southgate addressed his reasoning over some of his decisions, insisting that he 'backed' the calls to be right.
He told reporters: "All the players took the decisions respectfully and all the players believe they should be in, that's why they're all top players with that mindset.
"We have some players that have performed extremely well this season and other players have had stronger seasons. In the attacking positions we're blessed with a lot of options and Madders and Jack give us something different.
"They were tough calls, but we back our decisions but recognise we could've gone a different route. It was sad to have to deliver that news to them."
England are now preparing to face Iceland at Wembley Stadium on Friday night, with Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah the only one of the seven omitted players to remain with the group. body check tags ::
