Jack Grealish, Harry Maguire and James Maddison are just a few of the big names omitted from England manager Gareth Southgate’s England’s 26-man Euro 2024 squad, while the Crystal Palace duo of Eberechi Eze (three caps) and Adam Wharton (one cap) have been included in the squad.

Also included is Manchester United defender left-back Luke Shaw, who missed the last three months of the season due to a hamstring injury, but who now has a clean bill of health.

“Luke has progressed really well in the last couple of days and we think he could have some involvement in the second group game. You can take one gamble and that’s a calculated gamble where we have enough evidence we believe it can pay off,” said Southgate at the announcement of the team.

“We’re a close team and for everybody – the players, the staff – over the last couple of days these decisions were looming, but we felt we were able to make better decisions by giving us more time. That meant people were waiting for bad news and we tried to do that as respectfully and with as much on the human side as possible.

“For the players not coming with us, it’s a devastating blow and a difficult day for them and for their team-mates. Harry Maguire has made some progress but it has been complicated. We definitely wouldn’t have had him in the group stages and given we have not got a clean bill of health across the rest of the backline, we needed players that are fit and ready to go from the start.

“All the players took the decisions respectfully and all the players believe they should be in, that’s why they’re all top players with that mindset. We have some players that have performed extremely well this season and other players have had stronger seasons.

“In the attacking positions we’re blessed with a lot of options and Madders and Jack give us something different. They were tough calls, but we back our decisions but recognise we could’ve gone a different route. It was sad to have to deliver that news to them.”

England’s squad for Euro 2024

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal).

Defenders: Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Manchester City).

Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace).

Forwards: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Brentford), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).