LONDON: Trent Alexander-Arnold was one of four specialist right-backs selected in England's final 26-man squad for the European Championship on Tuesday, while Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson were included after fitness concerns.
The seven players cut from the provisional 33-man squad named last week by England coach Gareth Southgate were strikers Mason Greenwood and Ollie Watkins, midfielders James Ward-Prowse and Jesse Lingard, defenders Ben White and Ben Godfrey, and goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Alexander-Arnold was left out of the England squad for games in March but finished the Premier League season strongly and was picked in the enlarged group along with three other right-backs — Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker and Reece James.
All four have been chosen, though there is a chance Alexander-Arnold might be deployed as a midfielder given his vision and eye for goal. He has never played as a midfielder in his senior Liverpool career, though, only in its youth team.
Maguire missed the final five games of Manchester United's season because of an ankle ligament injury while Henderson, Liverpool's captain, hasn't played since February due to a groin problem.
Southgate picked both of them, perhaps keen to have their leadership in a larger-than-usual squad allowed for Euro 2020, though they might be unavailable for the first Group D game against Croatia on June 13.
“The most complex part of this time has been those injuries and whether we should take the chance on people," Southgate said. “With Jordan and Harry Maguire, we have a couple of players who are not where they’d be ideally in terms of their physical prep. But we think the experience they have, the fact that we think we can get them to a point where they can have an involvement in the tournament, it’s worth taking them, especially as we’ve got an extended squad of 26.”
Greenwood withdrew from contention early Tuesday “in order to recover fully from an underlying injury,” his club, Manchester United, said.
Southgate had given himself an extra week to decide his final 26 players because 12 potential picks were playing in European club finals last week, with Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea.
England will play a Euro 2020 warmup against Austria on Wednesday, and another against Romania on Sunday.
After the Croatia game at Wembley Stadium, Southgate’s team plays Scotland and the Czech Republic at the same venue. There’s also a potential round of 16 match at Wembley for England, while the semifinals and final will all be played there.
Full squad
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Manchester United), Sam Johnstone (West Bromwich Albion), Jordan Pickford (Everton)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolves), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Atlético Madrid), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Dortmund), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Maarsenson Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds), Declan Rice (West Ham)
Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jadon Sancho (Dortmund), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)