Marcus Rashford breaks silence after being ruthlessly axed from England's initial Euro 2024 squad
Marcus Rashford has responded to being left out of England's provisional squad for Euro 2024.
Rashford won't be travelling to Germany this summer as Gareth Southgate has failed to name him in his 33-man provisional squad, which will be cut down to 26 players for the tournament.
And the Manchester United star has issued a message to Southgate and the England squad ahead of Euro 2024.
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On his Instagram story, he uploaded an image of the England squad, accompanied with the caption: "Wishing Gareth and the boys all the best for the up and coming tournament."
Southgate has named the likes of Anthony Gordon and Eberechi Eze instead of Rashford for Euro 2024.
On not selecting the 26-year-old, the Three Lions boss: "These are difficult calls, you’re talking about players who are very good and have been an important part of things we have done.
"I just feel that other players in that part of the pitch have had better seasons, as simple as that."
By his high standards, Rashford, who has 60 international caps to his name, has had an underwhelming campaign this season.
He's scored just eight goals in 42 games across all competitions.
Without Rashford, Southgate has wide-players like the aforementioned Gordon and Eze as well as Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden, who can operate on the wing.
The Red Devils star, meanwhile, isn't the only high-profile exclusion as Southgate has also left out Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling and Reece James.
There's also no space for Jadon Sancho, Eric Dier and Dominic Solanke, among others.
On the squad balance, Southgate added: "If we picked tomorrow we might end up taking a dozen defenders because we have so many [injury] questions, and we obviously don’t want to do that. Hopefully in time things become clearer.
"I also think you can take too many forwards. With forwards you’ve got to give them love and make them feel special, and if you have too many you cannot do that.
"I would have liked it to be have been more decisive and cleaner."
Topics: Marcus Rashford, England, Football, Gareth Southgate, Man Utd
Nasir Jabbar