Arsenal’s starlet, Bukayo Saka, has been handed his first senior England call-up.
The player was on Thursday named in England’s squad for games against Wales, Belgium, and Denmark.
He was born in England to Nigerian parents and had an option to pick either of the countries.
In a tweet, Saka indicated an interest in accepting the invitation to play for the Three Lions, putting to rest the expectation that he may feature for Nigeria.
However, until he plays an official game match for England he is still eligible to switch his allegiance to Nigeria.
“Honoured and grateful to get my first @england call-up! #Blessings,” he tweeted.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has earned his first England call-up after sinking West Ham with a brilliant hat-trick in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
The Everton forward scored his second treble of the season in a 4-1 fourth-round win and afterwards said: “It would be a dream come true to be in the England team.” Harry Maguire also returned to Gareth Southgate’s bigger-than-usual squad for this month’s Wembley triple-header against Wales, Belgium and Denmark.
The Manchester United captain was withdrawn from the group for September’s Nations League qualifiers with Iceland and the Danes following his high-profile conviction in Greece. He has appealed the verdict.
United’s Mason Greenwood and Manchester City playmaker Phil Foden were expected to be left out as a punishment for breaching the squad’s bio-secure bubble by inviting women’s to the team hotel in the aftermath of their debuts in the 1-0 win in Reykjavik.
There was also a place for Manchester City’s Kyle Walker, despite his sending off in Iceland, which frustrated Southgate and saw him suspended for the 0-0 draw in Copenhagen.
United’s Marcus Rashford, Chelsea’s Ben Chillwell and Tottenham’s Harry Winks have also returned to the squad after injury, with Southgate expected to name more than the usual 23 names to help manage the workload for his players.
Spurs manager Jose Mourinho, whose squad are facing eight matches in 22 days including tonight’s Europa League play-off, yesterday piled the pressure on Southgate not to overuse captain Harry Kane in the friendly with Wales, who will be without injured captain Gareth Bale, and subsequent Nations League double-header.
“I believe that Gareth and Steve [Holland] they care about the players and I don’t think they want to be connected with something that can be a consequence of this week and the three international matches, which is obviously too much, especially for my players,” Mourinho said.
“I don’t speak with Gareth or even with Steve, I just let them do the job in the way they want to do it with the freedom they deserve.
“Hopefully Gareth and Steve understand what happened with Tottenham this week and they respect the players.
“That’s just my hope but I’m not going to call, or ask, or beg. I’m not going to press. I think they deserve their freedom and I have the utmost respect for them.”
England squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell, Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Joe Gomez, Michael Keane, Harry Maguire, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Tyrone Mings, Bukayo Saka, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker
Midfielders: Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice, James Ward-Prowse, Harry Winks
Forwards: Tammy Abraham, Harvey Barnes, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jack Grealish, Danny Ings, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling
Source: Reuben Abati
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