Solanke called up to England squad

Tottenham Hotspur striker Dominic Solanke has been called up to the England squad for the first time in seven years.

Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Rogers, however, remains in the Under-21 squad and has not been promoted to the senior team. Interim head coach Lee Carsley has also left out Man Utd defender Harry Maguire, Solanke’s Spurs teammate James Maddison and West Ham forward Jarrod Bowen.

Chelsea defender Levi Colwill has been included in the squad after featuring in both of England’s Nations League matches last month. Solanke, now 27, has scored three goals in six appearances for Tottenham since his £65 million ($83 million) transfer from Bournemouth in the summer.

Last season, he netted 21 goals in 42 matches for Bournemouth. However, he was overlooked for Gareth Southgate’s European Championship squad. Harry Kane, Ivan Toney, and Ollie Watkins were preferred. Solanke’s only senior England appearance came in November 2017 while he was at Liverpool. That was when he came on as a substitute in a friendly against Brazil.

Meanwhile, Rogers is presently a key figure for Unai Emery’s Aston Villa side. He started all eight of their Premier League and Champions League matches this season, contributing two assists and one goal. Harry Maguire, despite performing well for England last month, has been left out of the squad.

This is due to the rise of Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs De Ligt as Erik ten Hag’s preferred central defenders at Manchester United. James Maddison hasn’t been included in the England squad since he was dropped from the preliminary list ahead of the Euros. He has provided two assists and scored once in seven appearances for Tottenham this season.

After sustaining an ankle injury on his Tottenham debut, Solanke has been in excellent form since he returned in September. He earned his first England call-up in seven years and an impressive youth international career. He helped England win both the Under-17 European Championship and the Under-20 World Cup. But he has only made one senior appearance so far.

England kicked off the group stage last month with victories over the Republic of Ireland and Finland. They will play Greece at Wembley Stadium on Thursday, then travel to Finland on Sunday for their Nations League B Group 2 matches.