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21st May 2024
10:15am BST
On Tuesday afternoon, Southgate will name his provisional Three Lions squad ahead of the European Championships in Germany this summer.
The squad announced on Tuesday is a provisional one and expected to be made up of 30-plus names. Players from Manchester United, Manchester City and Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham will not join up with the squad immediately either, due to their involvement in cup finals over the next two weekends.
Then, after friendlies against Bosnia-Herzegovina (June 3) and Iceland (June 7), Southgate will name his final Three Lions squad that will travel to Germany in pursuit of European Championship glory.
This will be Southgate's fourth major tournament in charge of the national side, and after UEFA announced squad sizes for Euro 2024 would be increased from 23 to 26, you'd think the England manager's selection task had been made easier.
But whilst there is an abundance of options in attack and midfield for the England manager to consider, the same can’t be said defensively.
Reports are starting to emerge about what the 30-plus man squad will look like, and it seems like Southgate has made some big calls. The Athletic reporting that Jordan Henderson will not make the cut for the 30-plus name provisional squad, whilst Raheem Sterling is also set to miss out on an international tournament for the first time since his England debut in 2014.
According to the Athletic, Liverpool's Curtis Jones and Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford have been selected in the squad.
Meanwhile, United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has reportedly been included following a breakout year for the 19-year-old, whilst there are also places for Crystal Palace youngsters Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton.
This is as Southgate grapples with some defensive selection headaches.
His usual starting left-back, Luke Shaw, hasn’t played a game since February due to a hamstring injury, and it remains to be seen if he will make the squad in the hope he can prove his fitness before the tournament, which kicks off on June 14.
There are also fitness concerns over Harry Maguire, who hasn’t played in almost a month, Reece James, who has started just five league games for Chelsea this season, and Ben Chilwell, who has played just 12 minutes since March 26.
Meanwhile, Kieran Trippier's season at Newcastle has been dogged by injury and poor form.
All this on top of Ben White - who has been one of the standout defenders in the Premier League this season - still making himself unavailable for selection means Southgate is likely to want a few more defensive options in his squad.
This means we can probably expect to see the likes of Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa and Joe Gomez all making Southgate’s provisional squad.
And, of course, there remains the debate about whether Trent Alexander-Arnold goes to the tournament as a defender or a midfielder.
Extra defenders will mean some attackers miss out, and England regulars such as Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford are at risk of not making the final 26-man squad.
With all this in mind, here is a likely scenario for what England's final 26-man Euro 2024 squad could look like:
Keepers - Pickford, Ramsdale, Henderson (3)
Defenders - Walker, Trippier, Gomez, Konsa, Stones, Maguire, Branthwaite, Dunk, Shaw, Guehi (10)
Midfielders - Rice, Bellingham, Mainoo, Gallagher, Eze, Jones, Alexander-Arnold (7)
Forwards - Kane, Watkins, Foden, Saka, Palmer, Gordon (6)
Southgate will name his provisional England squad at 2pm on Tuesday, May 21.
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