England manager Gareth Southgate has sent a message to Manchester United duo Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw as they made his latest squad despite not playing much at club level.
Maguire and Shaw have long been key players for England, but they’re not currently getting regular minutes for Man Utd, so it may be that they won’t make the Three Lions squad next time if they’re still not featuring for Erik ten Hag’s side.
Southgate admitted that Maguire and Shaw not playing regularly isn’t ideal, so that can perhaps serve as a warning for the Red Devils pair ahead of this winter’s World Cup.
Speaking after the England squad announcement today, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News, Southgate said: “Clearly, we have a number of players including Ben Chilwell, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips who are not playing a lot of minutes with their club.
“It is not ideal, but we feel they have been, and can be, important players for us. It is not a perfect situation but there is still a lot of football to be played before Qatar.”
United fans will perhaps be hoping this can be good news for them, as it could motivate Maguire and Shaw to up their performance levels in order to get back into the starting XI at Old Trafford.