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Gareth Southgate suggested it was a ‘little bit early’ for Emile Smith Rowe to be included in his latest England squad, but insisted the midfielder was on a ‘really good path’ after a strong start to the season with Arsenal.
Smith Rowe has been capped four times by the England Under-21 team and had been widely tipped to receive his first senior call-up for the Three Lions’ upcoming World Cup qualifying matches against Albania and San Marino.
The 21-year-old has gone from strength to strength since breaking into Arsenal’s first-team back in 2018 and was handed the club’s iconic No.10 shirt after signing a new long-term deal at the Emirates in the summer.
This season, Smith Rowe has led from the front across a resurgent period for the Gunners, racking up three goals and two assists in the Premier League, but there was no place for the youngster as Southgate revealed his 25-man squad this afternoon.
Manchester United trio Mason Greenwood, Jadon Sancho and Jesse Lingard were among the other big names to miss out.
Asked why he decided to leave out an in-form Smith Rowe, Southgate told reporters: ‘Emile, Conor Gallagher and Marc Guehi, in particular, are all playing very well with their clubs, but we’ve got depth.
‘To put those in we’ve got to leave some of these on the sheet out and I think it’s not a bad thing that we’re starting to get a very strong Under-21 team because you want that depth.’
The England head coach added: ‘We fast track lots of young players very quickly and the majority of them are still in this squad now and a lot of them played a big part in the Euros.
‘But also we’ve had some that have come up and then when you put them back with the Under-21s that’s a lot more complicated so we want to get the timing of that right.
‘I think…
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Source : metro
