Chelsea checked. England checked back. On Thursday the Football Association went through Cole Palmer's medical file with his club and came away satisfied that he was fit enough to play two Nations League matches in November. On Friday morning Thomas Tuchel named a 25-man squad and Palmer was not in it.
That sequence is what makes this omission different from the last two. In September and October there was a minor fitness issue to point at, and Palmer himself withdrew. This time there is nothing to hide behind. He has five goals and three assists in 11 appearances this season, he is available, and the manager picked someone else.
Tuchel leaves the door open, then explains why it is shut
Asked about it on Friday, Tuchel said the "door is always open" and then spent the rest of the answer describing a door that is firmly closed for now. "I guess everyone is desperate to play for England, Cole is no exception," he said. "It counts when you're in camp. I said last time, he misses too many opportunities to impress. The players who were in camp built something extraordinary."
He added that it was not personal, and that nobody at the FA assumes Palmer has stopped wanting to play for his country. The logic is simply that the squad that came through the summer and autumn earned the right to keep going. Palmer was not part of that, partly through injury and partly through his own withdrawals, and Tuchel is not going to break up a group that works to accommodate a reputation.
Phil Foden gets the same treatment despite six goal involvements in his last six games for Manchester City. Kobbie Mainoo, who pulled out of the previous squad with an unspecified injury and did not play at the World Cup despite being selected, also misses out. Three players who would have been automatic picks under Gareth Southgate are now watching from home.
Josh King's call-up is the real statement
The names coming in say more than the names going out. Josh King is 19, plays for Fulham, and has started every Premier League game under Alvaro Arbeloa. He broke into the side under Marco Silva and has since pushed Emile Smith Rowe, a club-record signing, out of the number 10 role. He has two goals and an assist in the league this season and has registered 57 touches in the opposition box, more than Erling Haaland or Jeremy Doku.
King was at England's pre-World Cup training camp and, according to Tuchel, narrowly missed the September squad. He has not stopped improving since. Picking him in a position where England already have Jude Bellingham, Eberechi Eze and Morgan Rogers is a choice with a message attached, and the message is that camp behaviour and current form outrank past achievement.
Jobe Bellingham gets his first senior call too, after a season at Borussia Dortmund that has put him in the conversation rather than merely near it. He and his brother Jude will be in the same England squad for the first time. Djed Spence returns from injury for the first time since the World Cup, and Ben White is back for the first time since March, when sections of the Wembley crowd booed him even as he scored.
Who is missing, and who that helps
Injuries have shaped the rest. Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka are both out, which leaves the wide areas to Morgan Gibbs-White and Liverpool's Rio Ngumoha, with Noni Madueke overlooked. Trevoh Chalobah and Tino Livramento withdrew. Nico O'Reilly misses out after Enzo Maresca described him as not 100 per cent. Alex Scott's thigh injury opens the door for Everton's James Garner. Trent Alexander-Arnold keeps his place.
Not everyone is convinced. Jay Bothroyd questioned the consistency of the selections on Friday, and he will not be the only one wondering how a player who is fully fit with eight goal involvements in 11 games can be surplus to requirements. Tuchel's answer, stripped of the diplomacy, is that he does not pick on numbers alone. Croatia on 12 November and Spain three days later will tell us whether that stance survives contact with two serious opponents.
Squad facts: England face Croatia on Thursday 12 November (7.45pm) and Spain on Sunday 15 November (7.45pm) in the Nations League. Tuchel named 25 players. Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Kobbie Mainoo were left out; Jobe Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund) and Josh King (Fulham, 19) received first senior call-ups; Djed Spence and Ben White returned. Source: Sky Sports.
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