England manager Gareth Southgate is expected to leave Jordan Henderson out of his preliminary squad for Euro 2024, with Raheem Sterling also set to watch the tournament from home.
33-year-old Henderson has featured for the Three Lions at the last six major international tournaments stretching back to 2012, but opted to leave Liverpool for Saudi Arabia last summer after seeing his role reduced at Anfield.
Henderson, previously a close ally of the LGBTQ+ community, quickly left the Steven Gerrard-managed Al Ettifaq to join Dutch giants Ajax, after fierce criticism of his decision to move to the Middle East.
It’s believed his January move back to Europe was geared around featuring for England at Euro 2024 – increased minutes in a more competitive league being the logic – but multiple sources report that he’ll now be overlooked by Southgate in favour of younger options.
Sterling is also set to miss out on this summer’s festivities, having last played for England at the 2022 World Cup. The 29-year-old has won 82 caps for his country, scoring 20 goals, but has struggled to find fitness, form and consistency in a troubled two-year spell at Chelsea.
Crystal Palace quartet Adam Wharton, Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi and Dean Henderson are set to be included in England’s initial party, Mail Sport report, with Jarrod Bowen, Curtis Jones, Levi Colwill and Jarrad Branthwaite also tipped to make the cut.
Kobbie Mainoo is also expected to be included after a breakthrough year at Manchester United – he could even lay claim to a place in Southgate’s final 26-player squad, which will see a number of preliminary inclusions cut just before the tournament begins.
England are tipped to put in another strong showing at Euro 2024, building on the foundations laid at the World Cup in Qatar and the last European Championship in 2021. Southgate’s side reached the final in the latter – their first appearance in a final since the 1966 World Cup – but were beaten by Italy in a nerve-jangling penalty shootout at Wembley.
Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane are the marquee talents tasked with leading England to success, though the latter is currently focused on recovering from a back injury that ruled him out of Bayern Munich’s final game of the Bundesliga season.
What we know
- Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling to be overlooked by Gareth Southgate
- England to name preliminary Euro 2024 squad that will be cut to 26 players
- Henderson no longer playing in Europe’s top five leagues; Sterling hasn’t featured since 2022 World Cup.