Lee Carsley names four uncapped players in first England squad as Grealish returns

Lee Carsley has named four uncapped players in his first England squad as interim manager as Jack Grealish returns following his Euro 2024 snub.

England take on the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on September 7 before welcoming Finland to Wembley on September 10 in their first internationals since losing the Euro 2024 final to Spain.

Madueke earns his first call up to the senior squad after a flying start to the season for Chelsea.

The 22-year-old scored from the bench in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Servette in the first leg of their Europa Conference League play-off, and followed that up with a 15-minute hat-trick in the 6-2 win over Wolves on Sunday .

All of those three goals were assisted by Cole Palmer and Carsley knows both players well from their time working under the interim boss in the England U21s.

The same is true of Angel Gomes, whose inclusion is perhaps the biggest shock of all.

The Manchester United academy graduate moved to Lille in the summer of 2020 and has eight goals and 18 assists for the Ligue 1 club in 117 appearances.

He could earn his first cap along with Tino Livramento, who has forced Kieran Trippier out of the Newcastle team and likely pushed the right-back to announce his international retirement.

Kyle Walker may now be thinking of doing the same after he was left out of the squad in favour of Rico Lewis, who’s taken his place at Manchester City.

Morgan Gibbs-White has also been handed his first opportunity having shone both for Nottingham Forest and under Carsley for the England U21s.

Levi Colwill also worked under Carsley in the youth setup and has been included for the first time since his debut in a friendly against Australia at the start of last season.

Grealish returns to the fold having been the surprise omission from Gareth Southgate’s England squad for Euro 2024.

The 28-year-old struggled for game time at City last term which contributed to his Three Lions snub, but has been included in Carsely’s first squad despite only featuring for 19 minutes so far this season.

Carsley says he is keen to put his own stamp on the squad after replacing Southgate.

“I think it is a real proud moment obviously for my family and myself,” Carsley said.

“It has been a really hectic couple of weeks getting my head around the magnitude of the job, getting around to see as many matches as I can.

“I think it is fair to say the job that Gareth and Steve (Holland) did and the position I am picking the squad up is totally different to when they picked it up.

“I understand I am in a really privileged position and I am excited to meet up with the players.

“I thought it was important we put some fresh faces in and put our mark on the squad.”

England squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton),Nick Pope(Newcastle United)

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa),Rico Lewis (Manchester City),Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Phil Foden (Manchester City), Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal)

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) ,Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)