Gareth Southgate fears successor will face shortage of English players

Gareth Southgate fears his successors as England manager will face a selection crisis if the number of Premier League players eligible for the national team continues to diminish.

Southgate’s immediate concern is the opening Euro 2024 qualifying fixtures against Italy in Naples next Thursday and Ukraine at Wembley three days later. He has recalled Ivan Toney, despite the in-form striker facing a lengthy ban after accepting multiple charges of breaching the Football Association’s betting rules.

The manager has also brought back Reece James, Ben Chilwell and Marc Guéhi and has stood by Kyle Walker, who is under police investigation after allegedly exposing himself in a bar. There is no room in the 25-man group for Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben White, Conor Coady and Callum Wilson, while it was stressed that Raheem Sterling was not fit.

Southgate is confident that England have a chance to win the European Championship, suggesting it was a part of his motivation for staying on in the job after the disappointment of the World Cup quarter-final loss to France last December. But when he looked further ahead in terms of the picture around the setup his mood darkened.

Southgate said he was short on depth in certain positions, namely specialist left-backs and defensive midfielders. He noted there were only “four left-footed left-backs playing in the Premier League” who were eligible for England, meaning he would have to “start looking in the Championship”. Kalvin Phillips, the midfield pivot, has remained in the squad despite having not started a league game for Manchester City.

Southgate said it was irrefutable that the number of English players in the league was “deteriorating rapidly” and he is worried about the future if the