Shock as another LFC kid set for England call ahead of Ox & Sturridge

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This is pretty crazy, and makes little sense to us.

But it seems as though Gareth Southgate is going to call up Dominic Solanke to his full England squad for the friendly with Brazil, once he’s participated with England U21s.

The England manager will continue to ignore Daniel Sturridge and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and instead select our 20-year-old, who’s played virtually zero Premier League football.

Dominic Solanke won the Golden Boot as England U20s won the World Cup this summer.

Daniel Taylor writes in the Guardian:

“Smalling certainly cannot be the only one who feels slightly wounded this week now Southgate is planning to call up Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Demarai Gray and Dominic Solanke for the Brazil game on Tuesday, once they have played for the under-21s in Ukraine on Friday, and has kept out Daniel Sturridge, Jermain Defoe and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain even after the withdrawal of six players.”

Joe Gomez is already in the squad unexpectedly, while Jordan Henderson has pulled out due to injury, but this takes us as a massive surprise.

Since the beginning of this campaign, Solanke has been restricted to cameos off the bench. He’s played 85 minutes in total in the top flight, which has been made up of seven fleeting substitute appearances.

The striker is yet to score or register an assist and has completed 35 passes in that time.

We’re not trying to criticise Solanke, who has massive talent and is a player we have huge hopes for – but an England call-up already? We thought Southgate was picking on form!

Still, if it keeps Sturridge away from Southgate, it’s probably a good thing, considering how often the elder forward gets crocked on England duty.

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