Thomas Tuchel named his England squad for the games against Wales and Latvia on Friday afternoon
Thomas Tuchel, Head Coach of England, speaks to the media during a press conference at St George's Park on September 05, 2025 in Burton upon Trent, England.
England manager Thomas Tuchel.(Image: Eddie Keogh - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
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Thomas Tuchel has explained why he opted to leave Everton star Jack Grealish out of his latest England squad. The Three Lions face Wales in a Wembley friendly next Thursday before continuing World Cup qualification away to Latvia on Tuesday.
And Grealish, who has not featured for his country since scoring in a 3-1 win over Finland in October, was hoping to earn a recall after impressing for the Blues this season. But Grealish, along with Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, was overlooked by Tuchel, who insists he has no problem with the 30-year-old.
He said: “There is no problem between me and Jack Grealish. Very special players.
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“Phil [Foden] is back to influencing games and deciding games for Manchester City. Jack is very close to being the best version of himself.
“A very special player and a very special character, there is no problem at all and there is no personal problem in the nomination.”
On Bellingham’s omission, Tuchel said: “I understand your focus on Jude of course. First of all, he is a very special player and for special players there can always be special rules. I get this.
"But for this camp we decided that we stick with our straightforward decision to invite the same team. That applies also then for Jude. He deserves always to be in camp.
“I think there is an extra layer on top of it, the situation that he has not gathered full rhythm yet at Real Madrid.
“He is back in the team. He hasn’t finished one full match until now. He has only started one match, so he is at the moment in the period where he gets his rhythm, where he gets back to full strength.
“There is this extra layer into the decision, but the decision stayed for this camp.”
Asked if Bellingham was fit enough to be called up, Tuchel said: “Yes, and he wanted to be called up. We had a phone call. There was no issue from that side, he just lacks rhythm.
“He hasn’t finished one complete match, like I said, and on top of it we stayed with our decision to go with the same squad.”