Two Liverpool players have been warned that they could be the recipients of some devastating news over the next few days.
Four men from Anfield have been included in the provisional 33-player England squad for Euro 2024, although Gareth Southgate will need to trim seven names off that list before the tournament gets underway in Germany.
Speaking to englandfootball.com, the 53-year-old sang the praises of Reds duo Jarell Quansah and Curtis Jones, who along with Adam Wharton of Crystal Palace have made the longlist for the finals despite being uncapped at senior level.
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However, the Three Lions coach has advised the trio to prepare for the possibility that their European Championship dreams could be dashed when the final squad is named next week.
Southgate stated: “I’ve said to these boys that we’re only taking 26. They might be ready now but it might be that this is brilliant experience for them for the future. I can’t give anybody any guarantees because we don’t quite know all the other injury situations.”
Having had the door opened to potential Euro 2024 participation, it’d undoubtedly be a bitter disappointment for Jones and Quansah if they were to be cut from the final squad on 8 June.
However, like Southgate says, the Liverpool duo’s inclusion for the provisional pick shows that they’re in the manager’s thoughts for future call-ups – although it still baffles us how Harvey Elliott was overlooked considering the form he’d down towards the latter part of the season.
For all the criticism that the England manager gets for his tactical setup and not winning silverware with the quality of that he can call upon, at least he appears to have the diplomacy and persona to deliver bad news to players in a respectful manner – unlike some other international coaches with a few Reds in their squad.
We’d be delighted for Jones and Quansah if they’re retained for the final list of 26 who’ll represent the Three Lions in Germany, but if they miss out on this occasion, it’d give them a longer spell of summer downtime so that they’ll be raring to go for the start of the 2024/25 campaign.
They could certainly make it into future squads even if they’re omitted for Euro 2024, and maybe Southgate might see the light and select Elliott further down the line too…