England lose Foden, Palmer and Watkins for Nations League opener
Trio return to Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa due to medical and physical problems, which will be treated at the clubs
England interim manager Lee Carsley has faced his first setback before taking over as manager following the departure of Gareth Southgate. Carsley has lost Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins for the Nations League B games, which will be played on the FIFA World Cup finals.
Manchester City , Chelsea and Aston Villa players are returning to their clubs to recover from injuries, the Football Association announced on Tuesday afternoon in a statement.
— Cole Palmer, Ollie Watkins and Phil Foden will not play in England’s upcoming UEFA Nations League matches. The England squad reported to St George’s Park on Tuesday but following assessments, Palmer and Watkins have returned to their clubs to continue their recovery from ongoing problems. Foden missed the match due to illness and is ruled out of the games against the Republic of Ireland and Finland. No further call-ups are planned at this time.
Of the three clubs involved, only Chelsea released an official statement about the situation of their player. England will face Ireland on Saturday (09/07) and Finland on Tuesday (09/10). The first match will take place at 1 pm and the second at 3:45 pm, both in Brasília time. The matches are valid for the first two rounds of the Nations League group stage.
List of 23 remaining England squad members:
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Conor Gallagher (Atlético de Madrid/ESP), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
