Rashford, capped 60 times by England, was arguably the most notable omission as Southgate unveiled his preliminary 33-man party ahead of this summer’s tournament in Germany.
The likes of Jordan Henderson, Reece James and Raheem Sterling – boasting a combined total of 179 appearances for the Three Lions – were also left out, while uncapped quintet Jarell Quansah, Curtis Jones, Jarrad Branthwaite, James Trafford and Adam Wharton all made the cut.
Rashford’s snub comes after a disappointing season for the attacker, in which he has managed just eight goals in all competitions for Manchester United. He could, though, finish the campaign with silverware, with the Red Devils preparing to face Manchester City in this weekend’s FA Cup final at Wembley.
Explaining Rashford’s omission at his press conference this afternoon, Southgate insisted it was ‘simple’ – other players had enjoyed ‘better seasons’ than the 26-year-old.
Rashford went on to wish England ‘all the best’ on his social media pages and Southgate praised the forward’s professionalism when further pressed on his decision by BBC Sport’s Dan Roan.
‘Clearly he’s played in a lot of important matches for us and scored a lot of important goals for us,’ the England head coach told reporters.
‘We’ve worked with Marcus for a long, long time which makes those calls harder.
Asked how Rashford took the news on the phone, Southgate replied: ‘Look, I have to say, both him and Jordan Henderson were both incredibly professional and respectful.
‘I think they know, over a long period of time, that we’ve been very supportive when we’ve needed to be.
‘They’re not pleasant calls for the boys to receive so I fully understand that, but they were both very mature.’
England’s preliminary 33-man squad for Euro 2024
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 (Man Utd), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), John Stones (Man City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Man City)
Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Kobbie Mainoo (Man Utd), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)
Forwards: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Man City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), James Maddison (Tottenham), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Brentford), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
Many fans believe Southgate has the finest attack in the world at his disposal heading into the European Championships and the England boss is ‘very happy’ with the depth he has up front.
But according to Southgate, there remain question marks in that area of the pitch given certain players picked up ‘little injuries’ in the back-end of the season.
Quizzed on whether England boast the finest attacking talent at the tournament,he responded: ‘I’d have to look at all of the squads and see what they’ve got. We’re clearly very happy with the options we have. At the moment, there are a few questions with players that missed the last game of the season and little injuries.
‘We don’t quite know where all that sits just yet but we like the depth in that area of the pitch and we think that can be a great asset for us, not only who might start the game but who might come into the game and who might come into the tournament.’
Southgate rejected the suggestion that England are dealing with a ‘crisis’ in defence heading into the tournament.
‘I think “crisis” is about more important things than football,’ he said.
‘But we’ve got a lot of complications at the back, we’ve got players that have either finished the season injured or have had injuries and have just got back playing.
‘That’s the situation we are in and we’ve picked the players that we think physically, over the next couple of weeks, can get to where they need to be.
‘We’ll know more and be able to make better decisions in the next couple of weeks.’
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