England squad: Gareth Southgate’s telling Marcus Rashford comment as 8 Man Utd & Man City players called up

Gareth Southgate has called up eight Manchester-based players for his latest England squad.

Five Manchester City players were selected for Three Lions’ latest squad, including Kyle Walker, John Stones, Kalvin Phillips, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden.

As for Manchester United, they have three representatives in the group, with Dean Henderson (on loan at Nottingham Forest), Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw named. However, there is no return for Jadon Sancho.

Upon naming the squad, Southgate hinted Rashford could be in his plans for the World Cup, despite missing out on the latest selection.

“There were certain players we wanted to keep involved this time, but that said it doesn’t mean that this is the end for some of the others who aren’t involved,” the England manager explained.

“Marcus Rashford, for example, has shown some encouraging signs recently. He is a player we know well so if he can perform at a high level in the next few weeks, he of course will be under consideration.”

Rashford and Sancho have not been selected by Southgate since Euro 2020 last summer, and their chances of making it to the World Cup now look slim.

Minutes are important

Southgate also seemed to send a thinly veiled message to Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Kalvin Phillips when announcing the squad, hinting the trio may need to play more minutes at club level in the coming weeks if they’re to secure their spot in the World Cup squad.

“Clearly, we have a number of players including Ben Chilwell, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips who are not playing a lot of minutes with their club,” he said. “It is not ideal, but we feel they have been, and can be, important players for us.

“It is not a perfect situation but there is still a lot of football to be played before Qatar.”

This is seen as a hugely significant selection for Southgate and England, as it the final squad named ahead of the World Cup in November.

England face Italy in Milan on Friday 23 September, before hosting Germany at Wembley three days later.

These are the Three Lions’ final Nations League matches of what has been a hugely underwhelming campaign so far. England have picked up just two points from the opening four matches and are under real threat of facing relegation from League A of the Nations League.

Squad in full

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Nottingham Forest, loan from Manchester United), Nick Pope (Newcastle United), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Everton, loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Declan Rice (West Ham United), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)

Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Roma), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Ivan Toney (Brentford)