Newcastle United star surprisingly left out of England squad as £32m duo called up

Newcastle United goalkeeper Nick Pope has been left out of the latest England squad - but Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson have retained their spots.

Pope was forced to withdraw from the squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia in June after undergoing finger surgery, an issue that persisted throughout the 2022-23 Premier League season.

The 31-year-old completed his rehabilitation in the off-season and returned for the second game of the Premier League Summer Series in the United States - a 1-1 draw against Chelsea.

“It was just a finger that kept dislocating too easily, which is not ideal for a goalkeeper,” Pope explained. “The joint kept dislocating, so I had to get it stabilised. I had a kind of anchor put in it, and then got it taped up with some cotton wool.

“There were probably four or five times over the course of six months where it happened. There was one at the World Cup, one in September and a couple around games after that. It wasn’t like it was happening all the time, and it was normal stuff setting it off really, nothing drastic. But every time it dislocated, it was getting weaker and the joint was getting weaker. It was one of those situations where if I did nothing about it, it was only going to get worse.

“I wasn’t pushing it back in – I left that to the doctor. I didn’t really want to look at it to be honest, it would happen, then I would glance down at my hand and then look away.

Pope has started all three of United’s opening league matches versus Aston Villa, Manchester City and Liverpool but has been overlooked with Gareth Southgate preferring Everton’s Jordan Pickford, Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale and Crystal Palace’s Sam Johnstone.

Trippier and Wilson have been picked, while some may feel Anthony Gordon is unlucky to miss out following a strong start to the season on the back of winning the European Championship with England under-21s.

Southgate has named a 26-man group for the away double-header, starting with a Euro qualifier against Ukraine in Poland before the Three Lions return to the United Kingdom to take on Scotland at Hampden Park in a 150th Anniversary Heritage match.