A.C. Milan star and former Chelsea central defender Fikayo Tomori has been rewarded for his fine form at club level with an England call-up.
Tomori is thought to have earned his place in part thanks to Harry Maguire's calf injury, after the Manchester United skipper sustained the knock in the recent home defeat to Aston Villa.
Gareth Southgate's Three Lions side are gearing up for World Cup qualifiers early next month, starting away at Andorra, before returning home to welcome Hungary to Wembley Stadium.
According to Man Utd boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Maguire's calf strain is likely to keep him out of action for 'a few weeks', thus presenting Tomori with the chance to stake his claim and become a regular within the international fold.
Tomori has enjoyed a stellar start to the Serie A season with the Rossoneri, establishing himself as a regular under Stefano Pioli - something he failed to do at Stamford Bridge under both Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel.
When pressed on what inspired the decision to recall Tomori, whose first and only England cap came back in 2019 as a substitute against Kosovo, Southgate explained: "I have been very impressed. I thought he finished last season well. We were tracking him well last season and he is playing well this season.
"He is at a club that's expected to win every week, I thought he did well vs Liverpool and Juventus."
Southgate continued, "Milan have been delighted with him and ended up buying him. It has been a great experience for him."
Meanwhile, Maguire is not the only senior squad member to miss out through injury.
Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold missed out on the Reds recent Champions League victory over Porto and has not recovered in time to make this squad meet for his national side.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Did Southgate make the right call with his squad? Comment below.
Fellow Merseyside resident Dominic Calvert-Lewin also misses out, but Chelsea duo Reece James and Mason Mount have been called up despite sitting out the Blues' recent clash at Juventus.
Southgate addressed their respective injuries, explaining: "They've clearly still to have appeared for their clubs so there's an unknown but our understanding is Mason (Mount) and Reece (James) have a good chance for the weekend."
Maguire's United teammate Luke Shaw was also taken off against Villa with an injury, but he surprisingly has made the cut.
England's 23-man squad
Goalkeepers : Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Jordan Pickford ( Everton ), Aaron Ramsdale ( Arsenal )
Defenders : Conor Coady ( Wolves ), Reece James (Chelsea), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones ( Manchester City ), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders : Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds), Declan Rice ( West Ham )
Forwards : Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane ( Tottenham ), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jadon Sancho (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
