The Arsenal and Manchester United stars who could reignite England careers under new manager

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With Gareth Southgate leaving England, a host of players could force their way into international contention

England manager Gareth Southgate may have gradually stopped playing favourites as his tenure went on (as Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson will attest) but there were still several players who found their chances to wear the Three Lions restricted by the outgoing manager’s personal preferences and tactical requirements.

From personal issues to questions over form to what appeared to be nothing more than a simple lack of faith in their abilities, there are several fine players who spent Euro 2024 watching from their sofa, and who might be hoping that a change of head coach offers them more opportunities to shine on the international stage – so let’s take a look at the top-tier players who could come back into the England fold in the near future.

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Ben White

Let’s start with perhaps the most contentious omission of the Southgate era – Ben White fell out with assistant manager Steve Holland and, perhaps, with Southgate himself, and as such was frozen out of the squad with neither player nor coaching staff apparently interested in finding a way to build any bridges going forward.

Whoever takes charge may well wish to sweep all the bad blood under the carpet and bring White, who was exceptional for Arsenal last season, back into the squad – and with several contenders for the right-back job either getting a little long in the tooth (Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier) or seemingly cursed to life on a treatment table (Reece James), this could be the ideal time to let bygones be bygones.

Dominic Solanke

While both of the strikers that Southgate took to Germany as back-ups for Harry Kane did their job as supersubs very effectively, it continues to be a little surprising that Southgate hasn’t given Bournemouth forward Solanke a chance to impress after he bagged 21 goals in the 2023/24 season.

Solanke was only given one cap by Southgate, all the way back in 2017, but given his impressive form at the Vitality Stadium it seems that the time is right for him to be given another go in an England kit. If he carries his form into the new season, Southgate’s successor will surely offer the former Chelsea and Liverpool striker an overdue second chance.

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Fikayo Tomori & Levi Colwill

Two centre-halves that were surprisingly omitted from Southgate’s extended training squad ahead of the tournament and who could fare better with the new broom. Colwill has won caps in recent games and was on the way back from a serious toe injury, but it remained a surprise that he didn’t get a chance to battle for a place on the plane after some impressive form at Stamford Bridge, while Tomori never moved beyond the fringes of Southgate’s plans despite a near-constant clamour from the fans.

Tomori was exceptional when AC Milan won the Scudetto back in 2021/22 and has a solid support base in the stands ever since, but he has still only earned five caps for his country and never appeared to win over the old head coach. A fresh start may see his stock rise once more, although he’ll have a job getting past the likes of John Stones and Marc Guéhi in the short term.

Nick Pope

Pope’s shoulder injury seemed to be the reason he was left out of the European Championship squad, but Southgate has never been fully on board with the Newcastle United goalkeeper despite his considerable improvements as a ‘sweeper-keeper’ under Eddie Howe.

Jordan Pickford had the number one jersey on lockdown throughout Southgate’s reign but if players like Pope and Aaron Ramsdale can make sure they’re playing regular first-team football next season then the battle to stand between the sticks could easily reignite under a new coach. Pickford has been a very safe pair of hands for England, but his place isn’t necessarily nailed on going forward.

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James Maddison & Jack Grealish

Two peas in what may as well be the same pod, here – Southgate had a wealth of options to choose from when it came to attacking midfielders and forwards and these were the two high-profile players who missed out on a trip to Germany on this occasion. Both will hope for better going forward.

Southgate needed quite a lot of chivvying to take Maddison to the 2022 World Cup when the Tottenham Hotspur man was in sensational form, and didn’t seem to be much more convinced by the time the Euros rolled around, with a drop-off in production at Spurs sealing his fate. Grealish, meanwhile, has been offered plenty of chances but will need to rediscover his own thrilling best form to get himself back ahead of players like Phil Foden and Anthony Gordon.

Marcus Rashford

Rashford was a regular squad member under Southgate for years but was understandably dropped at the end of a torrid season with Manchester United – and in many ways, whether Rashford can come back will be down less to the manager and more to himself.

At his best, Rashford is one of the Premier League’s most destructive forwards, but he has been hitting flat notes for a year now. Only he knows the root causes of his problems and how best to solve them, but if he can work his way back into contention that it’s unlikely that there are any prospective England managers who would ignore him for long.

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