England head coach Thomas Tuchel named one Premier League star who is “very close” to being called up, while making a new claim about Jude Bellingham.
The Three Lions are back in action on Thursday night, hosting Serbia at Wembley for their penultimate World Cup qualifier, before facing Albania on Sunday night.
With England already booked a place in next summer’s tournament, Tuchel is now looking to build his best team.
Nico O’Reilly, Marcus Rashford and Morgan Rodgers all started against Serbia, while Bellingham and Foden started on the bench.
Tuchel is not afraid to make bold decisions with his selections and has named some of the Premier League’s most in-form stars who are expected to be called up in the coming months.
Asked if his players were running out of time to make a good impression, Tuchel said: “There’s only one camp left… so we’re running out of games to try things out.”
Read: Get ready for ‘tumultuous’ England line-up news with ‘wow’ factor
“But every player has a chance. There’s always a chance.”
On how close Brighton star Danny Welbeck was to selection, Tuchel said: “He’s very close. Do we really need to see this in November? I feel like we know what he can bring to us.”
Tuchel also explained why he believes Bellingham, Foden and Harry Kane “cannot play” in the same team.
“If we maintain our structure at the moment, they won’t be able to play,” Tuchel said.
More UK coverage on F365…
👉 Tuchel gives Arsenal star ‘brutal ultimatum’ as ‘next Bukayo Saka’ sparks transfer battle
👉 Tuchel admits England slot is Bellingham vs Rodgers – but who is his best number 10?
👉 Thomas Tuchel’s latest bold decision proves he knows England are screwed without Harry Kane
“At the moment we are playing No. 6, No. 8, No. 10 and No. 9.
“There’s a lot of agreement, especially in the number 10 position. When you think about Phil being able to play there, you think about Jude and you think about Morgan Rodgers, who played great for us in that position. “You have Cole Palmer, you have Morgan Gibbs-White, so you have a lot of players and you might not get them all.
“Not because we don’t like (them) or because they don’t deserve it personally, but we always do what’s best for the team.
“We’re always going to do what’s best for winning, we’re always going to do what’s best for balance, and we’re always going to try to have clarity, even if it means we have to make tough decisions.
“We make tough decisions in every camp and that doesn’t change going into the tournament.”
Coach Tuchel has named a strong eleven for the match against Serbia, and insists he wants to maintain his team’s “momentum”.
“The fact that we have already qualified does not prevent us from putting in a strong performance,” Tuchel said in his pre-match program notes for the game against Serbia.
“One of our strengths at the moment is our intensity of play and our ability and willingness to work hard.
“We have two qualifying matches left, but we want to win both. We want to keep going like this and build on our momentum.”
