Since becoming England manager in 2016, Gareth Southgate has relied heavily on several Manchester United players. Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford, in particular, have held prominent roles for the Three Lions.
Over the last 18 months, Luke Shaw has been reintegrated into the side and his influence on their run to the final of last summer’s European Championship can’t be forgotten.
Rashford was, however, one of the players to lose their place in the England side after a challenging 2021/22 season – Jadon Sancho was another.
Speaking after England’s final game before their World Cup opener in November, Southgate offered a lifeline for the United pair, insisting that he could still look to call up players who have been with the squad before.
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“It would be foolish not to keep an open mind, especially players who have worked with us before,” Southgate told Football Daily on calling up players who were not part of the latest squad.
“(Players) who we know, know us, who can slot in pretty comfortably. The way Eric Dier has played across the two games is a really good example of that. He didn’t need big adaptation, he fits in with the group immediately.
“Those guys in particular, we are monitoring closely. But also, we’ve got to keep an open mind on others because, in certain positions, we don’t have a lot of depth and we’ve still got to be analysing – is there someone who can come in to improve the squad that we’ve got?”
It’s certainly positive news for both Rashford and Sancho, who, in truth, deserved to be in the latest squad on form alone. Rashford missed out through injury but Sancho has been the best English player this season.