Cole Palmer England squad omission is confirmed: the Chelsea attacker is out of the November Nations League internationals against Croatia and Spain. England medical staff checked with Chelsea and confirmed he is fit to play this weekend. Thomas Tuchel instead kept the players who were available for the previous camp.
Cole Palmer England squad omission
Palmer has been unavailable for selection through injury three times during Tuchel's tenure. He has withdrawn from two further squads. Tuchel framed the call around attendance in camp rather than club form.
Palmer has six goal involvements in nine Premier League games for Chelsea this season. The England medical check with Chelsea cleared him to play this weekend.
Tuchel on the selection
"It's always the ones who are in camp, the ones who don't withdraw," Tuchel said. "The ones who walk the talk, and come to camp and show it matters and put the quality in. That's what we will always reward."
He said the previous international break set the standard. "It matters what you do in camp. The last camp was an excellent one, so the trust and belief is on the players who were there."
The No 10 options
Jude Bellingham, Morgan Gibbs-White, Eberechi Eze and Morgan Rogers keep their places from the previous round of internationals. Josh King, 19, is included as an extra attacker.
"It's enough No 10s and we stick with the guys who were in camp," Tuchel said. "The impact of all the players was immense throughout the whole camp, that's why we stick mainly with the group and all the offensive players."
On King, he said: "We have Josh King as a new player in there, but I want to see him on both wings. He's kind of an extra player. We can cover all four eventualities because Josh can play all four positions."
Palmer's route back
Tuchel said the exclusion is not personal and that Palmer's commitment to England is not in question.
"I guess everyone is desperate to play for England and Cole is no exception," Tuchel said. "I said last time, he misses too many opportunities to impress. The players who were in camp built something extraordinary throughout these two-and-a-half weeks and that's why the credit goes to them, the trust is for them."
He added: "It's not personal. We'll never assume Cole isn't in the mindset to come and play for his country but the competition is on and the players who were in camp did an amazing job and kept their place."
Asked whether Palmer could return, Tuchel said: "The door is always open. Nothing has changed. We decided to do this camp without him."
Kobbie Mainoo and the wider message
Kobbie Mainoo also withdrew from the last camp and is out of this squad. Tuchel said the standard carries without a separate announcement.
"I think it's naturally coming through, without needing to talk about it. That was always the message since early when we took charge: it matters when you're in camp."
England squad in full
- Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Jason Steele, James Trafford.
- Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Djed Spence, Ben White, Ezri Konsa, Jarell Quansah, Jarrad Branthwaite, Marc Guehi, Lewis Hall.
- Midfielders: Elliot Anderson, Jude Bellingham, Myles Lewis-Skelly, James Garner, Declan Rice, Josh King, Jobe Bellingham, Morgan Gibbs-White.
- Attackers: Rio Ngumoha, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Harry Kane, Eberechi Eze, Anthony Gordon, Morgan Rogers.
What comes next
England play their final two Nations League A3 games this month. A point against Croatia would seal a place in the quarter-finals. The previous round of internationals produced wins over Croatia and Czech Republic and a narrow defeat to world champions Spain.
The original report is from skysports.com.
