Burton upon Trent, United Kingdom: Marcus Rashford paid for his poor season as the Manchester United forward was left out of England boss Gareth Southgate's provisional 33-man squad for Euro 2024 on Tuesday. Former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson and Chelsea skipper Reece James were among the other big names to miss out on the squad, that must be trimmed to a maximum of 26 before the tournament in Germany begins. Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton is rewarded for the Eagles' brilliant end to the Premier League season with his first-ever call up.
Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite and Liverpool duo Jarell Quansah and Curtis Jones are the other uncapped players selected with Southgate short on defensive options. England face Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 3 and Iceland four days later before jetting off for Germany, where they are one of the favourites to win the tournament. The wealth of options available to Southgate in attacking areas means Rashford misses out on a major international tournament for the first time since the 2014 World Cup.
Rashford has scored just eight times in 42 appearances for his club this season and only recently returned from injury. "These are difficult calls. With Marcus I just feel other players in that area have had better seasons.
It's as simple as that," said Southgate. In a social media post, Rashford said: "Wishing Gareth and the boys all the best." Henderson's injury-hit move to Ajax in January after a short spell in Saudi Arabia has not done enough .
