Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire 'cut from England Euro 2024 squad' as Southgate gets tough

Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire have both reportedly been left out of Gareth Southgate’s final England squad for Euro 2024. The Three Lions boss has to submit a final list to UEFA by midnight on Friday, with the Manchester City and United duo not involved according to The New York Times.

Southgate has the unenviable task of trimming his 33-man squad down to 26 and having already left the likes of Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford at home, Grealish and Maguire are two more big-name absentees from the travelling pack to Germany.

James Maddison has already been cut from the squad and left the camp before Friday’s friendly with Iceland, with Liverpool duo Curtis Jones and Jarrel Quansah also omitted from the final selection alongside goalkeeper James Trafford and Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite.

Grealish was one of 11 forwards named in Southgate’s provisional 33-man squad and the 53-year-old head coach was hesitant to back the £100million man, after an underwhelming second half of the Premier League season saw him fall out of favour with Pep Guardiola.

“I don’t think we’re defining that just yet,” Southgate said on Monday when asked about Grealish’s chances of making the final cut. “I think we know where we’re likely to be. It’s hard to be quite so specific because we keep sitting down and saying: ‘OK, if it’s this or this…’

“But then somebody else in the room says: ‘Yeah, but what about if we lose that player there, or that one doesn’t come through with his injury? Do we need another one in this area?’”

Southgate had included United centre-back Maguire in his provisional squad in the hope that he would be able to prove his fitness. The international regular picked up a calf injury and has not played since April.

In a statement on Thursday, England confirmed that Maguire was following an individual programme and did not participate in the day’s training session.

Southgate insisted that he was “pleased with the progress” that both Maguire and United team-mate Luke Shaw had made in their recovery from injuries, but the former Leicester defender has been unable to convince the Three Lions boss that he will be fit enough to help challenge for glory this summer.