Michael Keane’s agent hits out at ‘CRAZY’ decision to select Tottenham’s Eric Dier and Wolves captain Conor Coady ahead of the Everton defender for latest England squad
Dier #Dier
Michael Keane’s agent described Gareth Southgate’s decision to leave the Everton defender out of his latest England squad as ‘crazy’.
Jake Mallen, who represents the ex-Manchester United and Burnley centre back, felt omitting Keane but including Tottenham’s Eric Dier and Wolves captain Conor Coady was wrong.
Keane has been capped 12 times so far for his country and has his sights on featuring at this summer’s European Championships. His absence for the World Cup qualifiers with San Marino, Albania and Poland represents a setback to those ambitions.
Everton defender Michael Keane was left out of Gareth Southgate’s latest England squad
Keane’s agent felt the Everton defender was more deserving than Eric Dier and Conor Coady
Mallen initially quote-tweeted an article which reported Southgate saying he would not pick players based on reputation alongside two confused emojis.
In a follow up, the agent was asked what he thought of the squad.
He wrote: ‘Dier & Coady over Michael Keane. Crazy!’
Keane has featured regularly for England since Southgate took charge and so his omission from the latest squad came as a surprise.
Jake Mallen, who represents Keane, quote-tweeted a piece about Southgate’s selection policy
In response to a tweet about his thoughts, he described leaving Keane out as ‘crazy’ to him
Following news that he had not made the squad, Keane posted a picture of him in an Everton shirt on his Instagram story. There were three blue hearts to accompany the photo.
John Stones’ recall appears to have taken Keane’s spot and the question that emerged since Southgate named his side is whether he is planning to play a back three or a back four this summer.
Harry Maguire and Tyrone Mings also got selected taking the centre back options to five with Stones, Coady and Dier.
Keane is enjoying a fine season for Everton in which he is playing a key role in their push for European football.
Manchester City defender John Stones returns to the England fold for the first time since 2019
The defender has four goals and has helped keep three clean sheets in the last five.
Southgate was full of praise for Coady and his ‘infectious personality’ last year while Dier has been a mainstay since the former Middlesbrough boss took the reins.
But the Tottenham man has been in indifferent form this season and his inclusion arrived as more of a surprise than Coady.
Keane’s team-mate Ben Godfrey, who is instead with the Under-21s, Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa and Burnley’s James Tarkowski all appeared to have strong cases for selection too.
ENGLAND SQUAD IN FULL
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Manchester United), Sam Johnstone (West Bromwich Albion), Nick Pope (Burnley)
Defenders: Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jesse Lingard (West Ham United, loan from Manchester United), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United), Declan Rice (West Ham United), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
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