CRYSTAL Palace quartet Dean Henderson, Adam Wharton, Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi have been included in England’s provisional squad for Euro 2024.
England manager Gareth Southgate named a 33-man squad on Tuesday. That number will be reduced to the 26 that will go to the tournament in Germany. The final squad is expected to be named on June 8, after friendlies against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iceland.
Palace’s players are in ahead of some big names, including Marcus Rashford, Jordan Henderson, Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Dominic Solanke, Eric Dier, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling and Ben White, though the latter has made himself unavailable for selection.
It is a meteoric rise for Wharton, who has received his first call-up. The 20-year-old midfielder joined Palace from Blackburn Rovers in the winter transfer window and only received his first call-up to the England under-21s in March, making his debut against Luxembourg that month.
Henderson has one cap, Guehi has nine and Eze has two.
The squad was named by positional groups, with Trent Alexander-Arnold among the midfielders and Jude Bellingham in the forwards.
Southgate said:”I wouldn’t be obsessed with where we’ve positioned the players. I write a list and other people put a heading on it.
“I don’t know where we need to cut. If we picked tomorrow, we could have a dozen defenders because we don’t know where we’re at. In a couple of weeks, we will be in a better position with that. There’s a lot to think about over the next couple of weeks.
“I’d love it to be cleaner than it is, but that’s not the situation we’re in.
“This has been as complicated a group as I can remember picking.”
Southgate added: “With this group, some of them might not be for this summer, but for the future as well. We’ve evolved as a team in every tournament. There are now a lot of changes from the last Euros, and from Qatar as well.
“There’s a lot of tournament experience now, even with our younger players. We’re really happy with where the squad is at. But everything starts from zero. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done in the past.”
Provisional England squad
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), James Trafford (Burnley).
Defenders: Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Manchester City).
Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace).
Forwards: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), James Maddison (Tottenham), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Brentford), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).
