Why Manchester United star Leah Galton continues to refuse international duty

World Cup fever is in the air and is bubbling in us all but Manchester United maestro Leah Galton remains immune and still refuses to be selected for England duty.

The 28-year-old simply prefers the time off during the international break to stay focused, sharp and happy and thus able to deliver irreplaceable performances for United week-in-week-out.

The midfielder was invited to an international training camp under Mark Sampson back in 2018, however, withdrew from injury and has seemingly asked not to be in contention since.

Problem is, she’s near impossible to ignore with eight goals and three assists in the Women’s Super League so far this season, she is on par with club teammate Alessia Russo and Chelsea’s Sam Kerr on goals sitting as a three-way-joint-third top scorer behind City’s Bunny Shaw on 16 and Rachel Daly on 13.

While perhaps being further down the assists scale for the entire top flight, statistically, her goals plus assists tally puts Galton joint fifth on 11, on par with teammate and England star Ella Toone, alongside Aston Villa’s Kenza Dali (French international) and Kirsty Hanson (Scottish international).

Her performances are of top international quality, so it's not that she can’t do it, she’s simply finding the work-life balance we all search for, she told BBC Sport: “Right now it's hard. I'm really getting my balance right. I have time off and time to be a normal person in a sense. I can go away with my family.

"That's where I'm getting the balance right. It worries me a little bit that if I change that, I wouldn't have that balance.” Galton toyed with career burnout back in 2018 and resorted to taking a year out following a spell with Bayern Munich.

She continued: "It's always nice to hear England