Ivan Toney and Trevoh Chalobah have been called up by Thomas Tuchel for England’s matches next month, and Conor Gallagher has also been included. But there is no presence in the squad for Harry Maguire, Marc Guéhi, Dominic Solanke and Phil Foden.
Toney is back for the first time since he left Brentford for the Saudi Premier League club Al-Ahli last summer. The 29-year-old has scored 29 goals in 43 games this season and won the Asian Champions League.
“I didn’t have the opportunity to see him live in Saudi Arabia,” Tuchel said, “so we took the possibility to fly him into our camp and watch him live, see his personality within the group and see his quality.”
Chalobah’s call-up is his first with the senior squad after England appearances at a number of age-group levels and he was said by Tuchel to be a step ahead of Maguire in terms of club performances. Chalobah and Jude Bellingham, who has shoulder surgery scheduled for later this summer, are among the players included before they are due to go to the Club World Cup.
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Burnley)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Dan Burn (Newcastle), Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Kyle Walker (Milan, on loan from Manchester City)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Conor Gallagher (Atlético Madrid), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Jordan Henderson (Ajax), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
Forwards: Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Al-Ahli), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
“Trevoh has stepped up massively since he went back to Chelsea,” Tuchel said of the 25-year-old, who was brought back from a loan at Crystal Palace in January. “In the last month, especially, he has had a major contribution to their run, he has been on of their most consistent and best defenders. He deserves his call-up and maybe he gets his first cap.”
Foden has not fully recovered from ankle ligament damage sustained in early April and said this week in relation to an England call-up that it may be “better to rest and get my ankle fully 100% back”. Guéhi was in Tuchel’s previous squad and has not been included, the manager said, after sustaining an eye injury in Palace’s FA Cup final win.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Ollie Watkins return after missing Tuchel’s first squad through injury. England play a World Cup qualifier against Andorra in Barcelona on 7 June and face Senegal in a friendly in Nottingham three days later.
Tuchel said Alexander-Arnold had been keen to come on England duty and described him a special, unique right-back. “It’s maybe on us to adapt to him as much as on him to adapt to us,” he said.
The international window sits in an awkward spot for Tuchel, coming after the domestic season and before the Club World Cup begins in the US on 15 June. Eight players in his squad from four clubs – Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid – are due to participate in the tournament.
Tuchel said he would “manage the minutes” of his Club World Cup players but chosen to select them because it was important to “cherish and worship” every available day with his players. “This is one of five camps before the World Cup,” he said.
Ben White was again not included, which Tuchel said was partly because the Arsenal defender is not at his physical peak but also because the 27-year-old’s wife is due to give birth to their first child during the camp.
Tuchel said he had not selected Tino Livramento, Elliot Anderson, Jarell Quansah and Adam Wharton because he wanted them to embrace June’s European Under-21 Championship finals.
