Raheem Sterling, one of Chelsea’s most productive players, has been left off the Three Lions roster in advance of the qualifying matches.
On August 31, 2023, Gareth Southgate revealed a list of players, however the former Manchester City player was not on it. He claimed that the midfielder was not pleased that he had been left off of the team.
Raheem Sterling’s exclusion surprises me given how brilliantly he’s begun the season for Chelsea and how he scored twice in their 3-0 victory over Luton Town last Friday.
“I am convinced he’s going to have an excellent season at Chelsea. He was not available for the last two and that’s given other people the opportunity to play well and establish themselves. It is a difficult call and Raheem is not particularly happy about it but I understand that.”
He also added that it is good to see that Sterling is in fantastic form but there are a lot of players in that position.
“We were really pleased with the group and to bring Raheem back in, we have to leave somebody out and I don’t think any of the attackers deserved leaving out. It is really good to see Raheem start the season well, he looks hungry and is an important player for us but in those areas behind the No 9, we’ve got a lot of competition for places.”
