England: Lee Carsley explains why Angel Gomes earns first senior call-up as James Maddison snubbed

Interim England head coach Lee Carsley says Angel Gomes ’ more “technical” profile is why the Lille midfielder has been handed a first senior call-up.

Gomes was a key part of the England Under-21s team that Carsley led to European Championships glory in 2023.

He was yet to receive a senior call-up until being included on Thursday in Carsley’s first squad since taking over from Gareth Southgate in a caretaker role.

Gomes, who also won the 2017 U-17s World Cup with England, left Manchester United to join Lille in 2020, and joins fellow Young Lions star Morgan Gibbs-White in the squad.

“People will be a lot more aware of Morgan maybe than Angel,” Carsley told reporters. “Morgan is very exciting, brilliant attitude, has an excellent work rate and is very hard to play against.

“Angel is probably different to what we would have seen in the past [which] would have been a central midfielder that is more robust.

“Angel is very technical, controls the game with his skill and technique. Very determined, excellent attitude. Technically and tactically excellent, I think he’s a player that people are going to really be excited to see.”

Among the midfielders not selected was Tottenham’s James Maddison , who Southgate omitted from the Euro 2024 squad.

Asked why Maddison and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford were not selected, Carsley said: “At the minute, there’s players ahead of them. They're both players that have done really well for England and their clubs in the past.

“They're players that are definitely on the radar.”

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