Aston Villa rewarded as provisional England squad for Euro 2024 announced - but Man Utd, Chelsea stars snubbed

Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa have been called up for the Three Lions’ training preparations ahead of this summer’s tournament, starting in Germany in just over three weeks’ time. Morgan Rogers was spoken about recently as a potential contender but the form of several other attacking players means Villa’s £8 million winter signing misses out.

Southgate has picked a long list of 33 players for his initial squad but he must shave off seven of these, with the limit set at 26 for the registration phase. It’s going to be tricky to stay in the team with so many impressive Englishman breaking through, but there’s a good chance both Watkins and Konsa will make it on the plane.

Big omissions include Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford and Chelsea full-back pairing Reece James and Ben Chillwell. The former did brilliantly a year or so ago but his 2023/24 form dropped off massively, whereas James and Chilwell haven’t played regularly enough over recent months due to injuries.

There’s no place for Ajax midfielder Jordan Henderson, either. “The 33 is not quite a fair way of looking at it. Hendo has missed five weeks and hasn’t got to the intensity since then,” Southgate said of the former Liverpool man during his squad announcement. The deadline for the shorter 26-man list is June 7.

England’s provisional 33-man Euro 2024 squad

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale, Nick Pope, James Trafford.

Defenders: Jarrad Branthwaite, Lewis Dunk, Joe Gomez, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa, Harry Maguire, Jarell Quansah, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker.

Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Curtis Kones, Kobbie Mainoo, Declan Rice, Adam Wharton.

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze, Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, James Maddison, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney, Ollie Watkins.