HARRY MAGUIRE has broken his silence after being left out of England’s squad for the Euros.
It was confirmed earlier today that he and Jack Grealish had both failed to make the cut for Gareth Southgate’s squad.
The defender was in a race against time to recover from a calf injury that had stopped him from joining in group training.
After missing today’s training session before tomorrow’s final warm-up game ahead of the tournament, Southgate opted to move forward with a set of defenders that have a clean bill of health.
Marc Guehi is currently the player expected to come into the XI in light of Maguire’s absence.
But Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, is also expected to be cut from Southgate’s squad.
READ MORE ON FOOTBALL
Maguire took to Instagram to break his silence after missing out on England’s squad for the tournament in Germany.
He wrote: “I am devastated not to have been selected to play for England at the Euros this summer.
“Despite my best efforts, I have not been able to overcome an injury to my calf. Maybe I pushed myself too hard, to try and make it. Simply, I am absolutely gutted.
“For me, representing England is the highest honour. It means everything to me. If I can’t help the team as a player, I will support them as a fan – along with the rest of the country. Go and win it boys.
Most read in Football
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS
“Next, I will return to the supervision of the Manchester United medical team in order to prepare for next season.”
England will kick off their tournament in Germany against Serbia on June 16 before playing Denmark four days later.
This is a bold changing of the guard from Southgate… he’s never been afraid to be ruthless
GARETH SOUTHGATE has made a habit of taking ruthless calls during his eight years as England boss, writes Dave Kidd.
And his decision to axe Jack Grealish, as well as James Maddison, is further evidence of the Three Lions chief being unafraid to take big decisions with big-name players.
Harry Maguire is also set to be among the seven players left out for the squad to travel to Germany for the Euros although the decision to omit the Manchester United centre-back is based on his failure to recover from injury.
Southgate is, more than ever, picking on form.
Attacking midfielders such as Eberechi Eze, Jarrod Bowen, Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon have been rewarded with call-ups for their excellent Premier League form, while Marcus Rashford, Maddison and Grealish all get the chop.
While the England boss is often regarded as an over-cautious nice guy, he took big decisions in getting rid of the likes of Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart and Chris Smalling at the start of his reign.
Southgate also jettisoned Raheem Sterling last year after the Chelsea man had been a regular starter throughout most of his reign.
And Jordan Henderson was left out of the 33-man preliminary squad having been a stalwart for Southgate throughout his previous three tournaments.
Grealish has been a cause celebre for England fans – who have often accused Southgate of holding an agenda against him.
But he has struggled for game-time with Manchester City all season, just as Maddison has been off-form since returning from injury at Spurs.
This is a bold changing of the guard from Southgate, who has relied heavily on Maguire, Henderson, Sterling and Rashford throughout his time in charge, while Grealish and Maddison are both popular flair players who fully expected to make the 26-man party for Germany.
Burnley keeper James Trafford, the Liverpool duo of Curtis Jones and Jarrell Quansah and Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite are expected to make up Southgate’s seven-man cull along with Grealish, Maddison and Maguire.
The Three Lions’ final Group C match will pit them against Slovenia on June 25.
Maguire and Grealish are the latest players to be cut from the squad.
They followed the departures of James Maddison and Curtis Jones yesterday.
James Trafford has also failed to make the final cut for the tournament in Germany.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
