Tino Livramento will represent England Under-21’s this summer after being snubbed by Thomas Tuchel for his senior squad.
Livramento ended the Premier League season in tremendous form for Newcastle United, shining at left-back in Lewis Hall’s absence. Despite playing in an unnatural position, Livramento put in a number of impressive performances and showed that he is capable of playing on the opposite side of defence if and when required.
It seemed, therefore, a shoe in that he would be named by Tuchel in his latest England squad. The Three Lions have a real dearth of options at left-back, with Reece James being played out of position on that side against Andorra at the weekend.
However, Livramento was omitted by Tuchel and will instead represent England Under-21’s at this summer’s U21 European Championship. England triumphed in this competition two years ago, with Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon being named as player of the tournament England defeated Spain in the final to lift the trophy.
Lee Carsley’s Tino Livramento praise
Livramento will be hopeful of following in his teammate’s footsteps this summer - and has the full backing of manager Lee Carsley to do so. Carsley was manager as England Under-21’s triumphed in Romania and has backed Livramento, whom he will rely on this summer in Slovakia, to impress not just for the Under-21’s, but also in the senior squad in the not too distant future.
“He’s a top player. An excellent player,” Carsley said about the former Southampton defender.
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“Tino’s had some injuries in the past which have held him back. Without those injuries, I think he’d have been a lot further ahead now than where he is in terms of pushing for a senior position. So, he’s highly-rated both on and off the pitch.
“The fact that he can play two or three positions [is a bonus]. I remember the first camp I ever had with Tino was an Under-20s one and I might have played him on the right wing.
“He always turns up with so much enthusiasm. We’ve tried to help him as much as we can when he’s here as well, in terms of when things haven’t been going so well for him.
“We’ve still picked him and still tried to give him game time. He fully deserves to be here, and I expect him to have a massive future with the senior team.”
England Under-21 fixture schedule
The defending champions get their tournament underway on Thursday 12 June (8pm kick-off) when they face Czechia at DAC Stadion. Their second group game sees them take on Slovenia on Sunday 15 June (5pm kick-off), before their group stage campaign concludes against Germany on Wednesday 18 June (8pm kick-off).
16 teams will compete to be crowned U21 European Champions, with four groups of four making up a group stage before the knockout round gets underway. England have been placed in Group B.
Newcastle United’s interest in the competition doesn’t end with Livramento, however, with Will Osula set to represent Denmark. Livramento and Osula could come up against each other in the knockout rounds should both nations progress out of their respective groups.
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