Manchester United stars Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho have been left out of Gareth Southgate’s latest England squad ahead of their upcoming Nations League fixtures.
The England manager named his 28-man squad for the games against Italy and Germany later this month and despite both making a decent start to the season, the wingers haven’t managed to break back into the side.
Gareth Southgate has named a 28-man squad for our #ThreeLions' upcoming games against Italy and Germany:
Rashford has three goals and two assists in six appearancesand Sancho two goals in seven, with the pair clearly starting to develop a strong relationship in combining for a number of these contributions.
Nevertheless, while it was confirmed that Rashford did not travel with the United squad for tonight’s match against Sheriff Tiraspol after picking up a ‘muscle injury‘, it seems Sancho’s early performances haven’t quite been enough to warrant a place just yet.
The 24-year-old informed fans on Twitter, wishing luck to his United and England colleagues.
In regards to @England every player wants to represent there country and I’m no different! Unfortunately I’m not ready yet as I’ve picked up an untimely injury. 🏴
The pair were omitted from Southgate’s last squad back in May and Rashford has been in and out of the national team for some time given numerous injury problems.
Southgate remarked that his latest fitness issue obviously confirmed decision but did hint that he could return to the fold in time for the World Cup.
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🗣 Gareth Southgate: “Marcus Rashford 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 [to go to the World Cup].” [@England]
Meanwhile, teammates Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw remain in the team and Dean Henderson (currently loaned out to Nottingham Forest) will be looking to challenge for the number one spot.
Over the other half of Manchester, five city players find themselves in the team, including Stockport’s own Phil Foden. Brentford’s Ivan Toney has also got his first senior call-up following an impressive start to this year’s campaign.
The England squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale.
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Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell, Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Marc Guehi, Reece James, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker.
It seems fairly likely that the pair will return to the squad should the pair stay fit and United‘s form stabilise, with the players still yet to fully find their feet despite four wins on the bounce in the league.
Erik ten Hag’s team didn’t look at the races in their Europa League opener against Real Sociedad last week but they will certainly be hoping to put on a better display against Moldovan side this evening.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.