England: Thomas Tuchel makes shock squad decision with ex-PL striker in Saudi ‘set to be recalled’
Thomas Tuchel is reportedly ‘set’ to make a controversial decision regarding his next England squad, with a striker playing in Saudi Arabia to feature.
Tuchel is set to name his second England squad since replacing Gareth Southgate, with a World Cup qualifier against Andorra and friendly against Senegal coming up in June.
The Three Lions got off to a flying start under Tuchel, winning their opening World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia 2-0 and 3-0.
His latest squad is yet to be formally announced, but The Athletic‘s David Ornstein has revealed that he is set to make a controversial decision, with former Brentford striker Ivan Toney ‘set to be recalled’.
Toney has not featured for England since Euro 2024 as he’s rightly not been in contention following his move to the Saudi Pro League.
The 29-year-old snubbed interest from several Premier League sides to move to Al-Ahli on a free transfer when his Brentford contract expired at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.
Toney has 29 goals in 43 appearances for the Saudi Pro League outfit and recently helped them win the Asian Champions League, but Tuchel will rightly receive backlash for this decision.
Ornstein claims Tuchel is to ‘reward’ Toney for his strong form in the Middle East as he’s ‘expected’ to be in England’s next squad.
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Earlier this week, a report from The Telegraph revealed Crystal Palace’s Dean Henderson and Burnley’s James Trafford are to join Everton’s Jordan Pickford in Tuchel’s next squad as his three goalkeepers.
While Pickford has come under scrutiny for his Everton form at times, he has never let England down as he’s justified being the No.1 goalkeeper under Southgate, Tuchel and Lee Carsley.
However, The Telegraph claims Henderson and Trafford are ‘piling pressure on Pickford’, with Tuchel ‘keen on’ the two in-form shot-stoppers.
Pickford is said to be ‘facing a three-way fight to remain as England’s first-choice goalkeeper’, with Tuchel ‘known to be an admirer of Henderson and is also keen to give Trafford an opportunity to stake his claim’.
‘Tuchel and his goalkeeping coach Henrique Hilario are planning to consider other options with Trafford, who has gained promotion back to the Premier League with Burnley, and Henderson, the goalkeepers to push Pickford.’
Tuchel named Pickford, Henderson, Trafford and Aaron Ramsdale in his last squad and indicated that they were on a level playing field.
He said: “These are the four goalkeepers that we think we can build our squad on.
“We want to straightaway give the message that this is a new start for everyone. At the same time, we can see how they work together and how the energy is between them.”
