England Euro 2024 squad's first casualty is James Maddison, with the Tottenham playmaker dropped from contention
James Maddison has been dropped by Gareth Southgate(Image credit: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
James Maddison has been dropped from the England Euro 2024 squad, according to widespread reports.
The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder is the first casualty of Gareth Southgate's squad, which has to be cut to its final 26 members by Friday at 11pm. Maddison appeared from the bench in the 3-0 victory over Bosnia & Herzegovina in Monday's pre-Euro 2024 friendly.
Southgate originally named 33 players for consideration at this summer's tournament in Germany, with the likes of Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton and Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite named among the group as surprise first-time candidates. England take on Iceland this Friday night before the group game fixtures kick off, with Serbia up first on June 16.
Gareth Southgate has to name his final squad by Friday (Image credit: Getty Images)
Maddison enjoyed a solid first half of the season after arriving at Tottenham for around £40 million last summer, taking Harry Kane's No.10 shirt and performing well under Ange Postecoglou. An injury sustained in a 4-1 loss to Chelsea last November, however, stopped his progress and he struggled to regain form.
The former Leicester City playmaker drifted in and out of Postecoglou's starting XI towards the end of the season, as Spurs finished fifth in the table, qualifying for the Europa League.
Maddison had a stop-start season at club level (Image credit: Tom West/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Maddison was chosen to go to the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 following another purple patch in the Premier League – but failed to make an appearance after picking up an injury on the eve of the tournament.
Euro 2024 begins on July 14, as hosts Germany open the tournament in Group A against Scotland.
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Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.
