There were some surprise names in Thomas Tuchel's England squad for upcoming friendlies with Uruguay and Japan.
Former Sunderland and Middlesbrough goalkeeper Jason Steele was one of the surprise names in a 35-man England squad as the Three Lions prepare to face Uruguay and Japan in friendlies later this month.
The Newton Aycliffe-born stopper joined the Black Cats from Blackburn Rovers during the summer of 2017 as Sunderland prepared for life back in the Championship after suffering relegation from the Premier League under David Moyes. Steele started the first four games of the league season under new manager Simon Grayson and went on to make 18 appearances in all competitions during a campaign that saw the Black Cats suffer consecutive relegations as they dropped into the third tier of English football for only the second time in their history.
The former Middlesbrough goalkeeper had departed by the time the new season got underway as he joined Brighton and Hove Albion on a free transfer and he has since gone on to make over 60 appearances for the Seagulls and featured in their Europa League campaign during the 2023/24 season. Despite not making a Premier League appearance during the current season, 35-year-old Steele has now been named in an England senior squad for the first time after earning caps at several youth levels for the Three Lions. A statement released on the FA website revealed Steele’s surprise call-up raises ‘the prospect of him joining the World Cup squad as a training goalkeeper during the summer’.
Speaking about his decision to pick a 35-man squad, England boss Tuchel said: “We decided to divide it into basically two camps almost, so we bring players in that we haven’t seen who haven’t played so much to open up the picture, and the competition for plane tickets to the US. Then from Friday and Saturday, a group of players will come into camp – ten or eleven players who get a rest before and we will then go with a new group and mix of players into the match against Japan.”
England squad for friendlies with Uruguay and Japan
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City), Aaron Ramsdale (Newcastle United), Jason Steele (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Lewis Hall (Newcastle United), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Nico O'Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan)
Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), James Garner (Everton), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Leeds United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur)
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