England squad: Why I didn’t include Chelsea star – Gareth Southgate

England manager Gareth Southgate has explained his decision not to include Chelsea star Raheem Sterling in his squad for their upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia, respectively.

Southgate had named a 25-man squad on Thursday for this month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers with Malta and North Macedonia.

Sterling, who has been quite impressive for Chelsea this season, was left out.

Apart from Sterling, John Stones was also left out after he suffered an injury in Manchester City’s Champions League win over Young Boys and Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah was also absent with an ankle knock.

Speaking on his decision not to include Sterling in his squad, Southgate said it was due to football reasons but claimed the door is not closed on the former Manchester City star.

Southgate was quoted by Supersport as saying: “The door is 100 per cent open, not only for Raheem but for other players. There is no doubt about that. We don’t need to know about his quality, his personality. He is a crucial part of why we have had the journey we’ve had over the last few years.

“He wasn’t available in March or June and the team started on a good run. We won in Italy for the first time in 60 years; the two performances in June were excellent, so we stuck with that group. There is no question Raheem is looking dangerous for his club; he looks invigorated since the start of the season. (But) that is an area of the pitch where we’ve probably got as much competition for places as anywhere.

“You look and Jarrod Bowen has got seven goals this season already; Anthony Gordon is playing very well at Newcastle, Cole Palmer is starting to play well. It is just a change in landscape there.”