Gareth Southgate insists the ongoing England exiles of Raheem Sterling and Ben White are based purely on footballing reasons and the “door is open” for both players to revive their international careers in time for Euro 2024.
The Three Lions boss named a 25-man squad on Thursday for upcoming qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia having already booked their place at next summer’s finals in Germany. Sterling and White were omitted for the fifth consecutive time and neither player has featured since leaving England’s World Cup base in difficult circumstances during last year’s Qatar World Cup. Sterling flew to London after a robbery at his Surrey home but returned a day before England’s World Cup quarterfinal defeat against France.
, during which he was a 79th-minute substitute.
White left the camp early after the group stage due to what the Football Association described at the time as “personal reasons” but has not been selected since, despite excelling in an Arsenal side which pushed Manchester City close to the Premier League title last year.
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