England manager, Gareth Southgate, has left out Manchester United defender, Luke Shaw, in his 27-man list released for the finals of the UEFA Nations League in Portugal this summer.
Shaw was named United’s player of the season after the club’s shambolic campaign in all competitions.
Southampton’s Nathan Redmond is the surprise name in Southgate’s initial squad for the competition, although he will reduce the list to 23 by May 27.
Redmond scooped the Player of the Year double at Saints’ end of year awards after a fine campaign.
England captain, Harry Kane, was selected by Southgate, despite an ankle ligament injury, with teammate, Harry Winks, also picked after his groin surgery.
The Three Lions’ manager dropped Chelsea forward, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, after sustaining a nasty ankle injury while playing in a friendly for Chelsea on Wednesday.
Southgate, who guided England to a fourth-place finish at last year’s FIFA World Cup, named other midfielders including Declan Rice and James Ward-Prowse.
Jesse Lingard and Joe Gomez returned to the squad.
Southgate believes Redmond deserved his return to the England team after the winger scored nine goals in the second half of the season.
Speaking at a press conference, the England manager said: “I think he finished the season really well. I think the new manager has had a positive effect: a lot of pace, playing the high press and has started to score more regularly.
“It is a really good opportunity for Nathan.”
Southgate also explained his reasons for including Kane and Winks, despite the Tottenham duo currently being sidelined by injury.
“For the likes of Harry Winks, he deserves to named in the initial squad. It is a case that he hasn’t played for a couple of months so we will have to see,” Southgate further said.
“That’s (Kane’s fitness) one of the unknowns. He’s working to be fit for the (Champions League) final. We are keeping that door open. We are going to look post-Champions League final. There is the physical aspect and emotional aspect of that final that we have to look at.
“I don’t think we have had a time where we haven’t had a lot of pullouts but we have a really strong squad. We will know more by that date (May 27) but we can make changes after that date.”
Southgate was positive in how the impact of his players featuring in the Champions League and Europa League finals can have on his team in the future.
He added: “In the long-term for England, it’s brilliant. All of these experiences are what this team hasn’t had before.
“It’s been an incredible couple of weeks for English football and we are looking forward to continuing that.”
The exclusion of Shaw, however, raised a few eyebrows.
But when asked if it was a tough choice, Southgate added: “No. Ben Chilwell and Danny Rose have been excellent for us so they are ahead in the pecking order. But it gives us a lot of good options.”
The England manager also added that Chelsea pair of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi would have been selected if they were fit.
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