James Maddison has shared his reaction after he was left out of the England squad for Euro 2024.
Maddison was named in Gareth Southgate’s initial 33-man selection and played in England’s friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday, coming off the bench for the final 30 minutes in the 3-0 win at St James’ Park.
Maddison was cut from England squad for Euro 2024
The 27-year-old joined Tottenham in a £40m move from the Foxes last summer but endured an inconsistent season after a strong start was disrupted by injury.
The midfielder has seven senior England caps to his name and was part of Southgate’s squad for the 2022 World Cup, although he did not make an appearance in Qatar.
Maddison has taken to social media platform X to share his feelings on the omission which he described as being ‘devastated’.
Midfielder admits he is devastated over decision
He wrote: “Devastated doesn’t quite cut it. Trained well and worked hard all week but if I’m honest with myself, my form for Spurs when coming back from injury in the second half of the season probably wasn’t at the levels I had set which gave Gareth a decision to make.
“I still thought there would be a space for me in a 26 man squad as I feel I bring something different & had been a mainstay in this whole qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 in Germany but the manager has made the decision and I have to respect that. I’ll be back, I have no doubt.
“Wishing the boys all the luck in the world out in Germany, unbelievable group and lads that I literally call some of my best friends. I genuinely hope football comes home”
With three goals and five assists in his first nine Premier League games for Tottenham, Maddison looked like he would definitely be playing for England this summer, however, his ankle injury in November which kept him out for three months took the wind out of his sails and struggled to rediscover the same levels for the remainder of the season.
While Cole Palmer and Eberechi Eze have both had good campaigns, Maddison can feel somewhat hard done by if Southgate includes Jac Grealish in his squad for the tournament in Germany.
Hopefully, with a solid pre-season behind him, Maddison can return next season at the top of his game and prove the doubters wrong.