Former England football team captain Wayne Rooney wanted Manchester City star Jack Grealish to feature in the Euro 2024. England football team manager Gareth Southgate made some bold decisions while finalising the squad for the Euro 2024, slated to kick off on June 15 in Germany.
Several players including Grealish and James Maddison, who were part of the initial squad, were dropped from the final 26-member team. Rooney feels Southgate might have made a mistake by omitting Grealish from the squad. According to the Manchester United legend, England have multiple options for the right flank as Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden all can operate through that region.
In that case, Rooney reckons Southgate could drop West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen to accommodate Jack Grealish in the team sheet. “Grealish, I would have taken him. Bowen is on the right, they have Saka, Cole Palmer, and Foden could play out there. I would have taken Grealish instead of Bowen," Rooney said while dissecting England’s EURO squad on The Overlap YouTube channel.
Grealish, who joined Manchester City in 2021 on a £100 million deal, failed to produce anything significant last season. He made 36 appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side across all competitions last season. The 28-year-old managed to score three goals while recording as many assists. Meanwhile, Bowen was one of the top-performing players for West Ham, striking 20 goals and providing 10 assists during the 2023-24 campaign.
England manager Southgate earlier revealed in a press conference that he chose the players for the Euro 2024 squad based on their performance “in the last six months."
About dropping star players like Grealish, Marcus Rashford and Maddison, Southgate said, “All the players took the news respectfully. Of course, all players will think they should be in and that’s why they are top players. They have that self-belief and mindset, but the fact is we have some players who have been playing extremely well in the league all season."
Despite being snubbed from the squad, Grealish featured in the penultimate pre-Euro friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 4. He did not spend 90 minutes on the pitch and assisted Trent Alexander-Arnold. England will begin their Euro 2024 campaign with a match against Serbia on June 17.
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