Eberechi Eze missed Sunday's Carabao Cup final due to injury and the Arsenal star has been forced to withdraw from the England squad ahead of their upcoming friendlies
Harvey Barnes of Newcastle United during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Sunderland at St. James's Park in Newcastle, United Kingdom, on March 22, 2026. (Photo by Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Harvey Barnes has received an England call-up(Image: Mark Cosgrove/News Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Newcastle star Harvey Barnes is expected to be announced as Eberechi Eze's replacement in the England squad for their upcoming friendlies against Uruguay and Japan. Eze, 27, was ruled out Sunday's Carabao Cup final through injury, as his Arsenal side fell to an abject 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.
Eze's absence has forced Three Lions manager Thomas Tuchel to change his plans after naming an enlarged 35-man squad on Friday. After featuring in Newcastle's 2-1 loss at home to Sunderland in the Tyne-Wear Derby, Barnes has been called up and will link up with his new team-mates at St George's Park.
The 28-year-old earned his first England cap in a friendly against Wales in 2020 but hasn't featured since. Until recently, Barnes had considered switching his allegiance to Scotland ahead of this summer's World Cup but ultimately turned them down.
Scotland boss Steve Clarke confirmed on BBC Radio 5 Live last month: "This time I can say for sure, Harvey's going to concentrate on trying to play for England, he's not going to come to Scotland.
"You can put that one out there. Nobody needs to ask me or Harvey about it any more. "Am I disappointed? No, listen, Harvey can make up his own mind. We move on."
Tuchel will effectively divide this month's international window into two camps, giving a select group of players who he's previously worked with as England manager some much-needed rest. After hosting Uruguay at Wembley on Friday, those regulars will join up with the rest of the squad before Tuesday's clash with Japan.
"We decided then to divide it in basically two camps almost, so we bring players in that we haven't seen that haven't played so much to open up the picture and to open up the competition for plane tickets to the US," Tuchel explained.
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 08: Harvey Barnes of England in action during the international friendly match between England and Wales at Wembley Stadium on October 08, 2020 in London, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Nick Potts - Pool/Getty Images)
Harvey Barnes' only previous England appearance came in 2020(Image: Nick Potts - Pool/Getty Images)
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"Then from Friday/Saturday, a group of players will come into camp - 10 or 11 players will come who get a rest before and we will then go with a new group of players and a new mix of players into the match against Japan."
The England boss added: "I'm convinced we will have two hungry teams to play Uruguay and Japan. I am convinced we need two hungry teams because the opponents are very different from each other but very, very good football teams. We need top quality, we need hunger and excitement to create excitement."