Fikayo Tomori Named in Squad for First Time in Two Years

Gareth Southgate has named AC Milan central defender Fikayo Tomori in his latest England squad, which has two notable absentees in injured pair Harry Maguire and Trent Alexander-Arnold. England have two qualifiers this month, facing Andorra away and then Hungary at Wembley.

Maguire and Alexander-Arnold are out, but Mason Mount, Reece James and Luke Shaw have all returned from knocks and have been named in the squad. Aaron Ramsdale of Arsenal and Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa have also been brought back into the fold due to strong starts to the domestic season.

Southgate has, though, left out teenagers Jude Bellingham and Mason Greenwood. Neither are injured, and the manager explained his decision. “They are young players with a heavy workload at the moment,” said Southgate. “We have to remember that these lads are both physically growing. We’ve got to be very careful about how we handle them. We don’t want to overload them.”

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Jordan Pickford has been selected alongside fellow goalkeeper Sam Johnstone and Ramsdale. While England’s right-back options are depleted by Alexander-Arnold’s absence, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier and James should provide more than enough depth and quality.

Ben Chilwell remains out of the picture following a tough summer and start to the new season. As such, Luke Shaw is the only left-back involved. Tyrone Mings, Conor Coady and Manchester City’s John Stones make up the centre-backs — with Harry Maguire out injured. Joining them is AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori, who has been exceptional since joining the Italian side from Chelsea in January on a loan that was then made permanent. He has one England cap, featuring in the Three Lions’ final match before the pandemic, in Kosovo.

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Without Bellingham, England’s more defensive-minded midfielders are Jordan Henderson, Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips. Mason Mount, Phil Foden and Jesse Lingard are the more advanced options.

Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho, Jack Grealish and Bukayo Saka are England’s wide options for their two October World Cup qualifiers. Harry Kane and the returning Ollie Watkins are selected up front.