England have recalled Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden for their friendly against Ireland and Nations League meetings with Belgium and Iceland, but there was no place for Mason Greenwood in the 29-man squad.
Foden and Greenwood were sent home from Reykjavik, Iceland in September after they breached COVID-19 protocols by meeting up with two women inside the public areas of the team hotel. They were also left out of last month’s England squad.
While Foden has made a return on the back of an impressive start to the season with City, Manchester United forward Greenwood remains out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
Greenwood, 19, has failed to complete a full 90 minutes for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United this season and scored two goals in eight appearances for the club in all competitions.
“Firstly, we are looking at the balance of the squad positionally,” Southgate told reporters on Thursday. “Phil has had quite a lot of football with his club recently and Mason has had less game time with United.
“I’ve had a good chat with Ole about his development. I feel it’s better for him to stay with the club at the moment and to develop over the next few months.
“There’s no carry-over with what happened in September. That’s done. They were both available for selection and both are going to be very good players. There’s no doubt about that.”
Defenders Harry Maguire and Reece James were both included despite facing one and two-match suspensions respectively in the Nations League for their red cards against Denmark.
In-form Southampton striker Danny Ings missed out due to a knee injury, while Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips has been sidelined with a shoulder injury.
There was no place for playmakers Ross Barkley or James Maddison, while winger Harvey Barnes, who made his debut against Wales last month, was also left out.
Southgate’s England face Ireland on November 12 before playing Nations League A Group 2 games against Belgium on November 15 and Iceland on Nov. 18.
England are third in the group with seven points, two adrift of leaders Belgium.
England squad
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope.
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell, Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Joe Gomez, Reece James, Michael Keane, Harry Maguire, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Tyrone Mings, Bukayo Saka, Kieran Tripper, Kyle Walker.
Midfielders: Phil Foden, Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount, Declan Rice, James Ward-Prowse, Harry Winks.
Forwards: Tammy Abraham, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling.
