‘He Is Highly Rated’ – English Trio On Gareth Southgate’s Radar For A First Senior Call-Up

According to The Telegraph, Anthony Gordon, Angel Gomes and James Trafford have all caught the eye of Gareth Southgate and could be in line for their first senior England call-up.

Southgate has long been criticised by fans and people in the media for some of his decisions when announcing his England squads as they usually include Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips who rarely feature for Manchester United and Manchester City, respectively, and also Jordan Henderson who’s playing a below-standard Saudi Pro League.

This is all the while more in-form players such as Fikayo Tomori, who starts regularly for Champions League side AC Milan, James Ward-Prowse, who’s been an inspired signing for West Ham and many more.

However, after a stuttering display last time out which saw England only manage to pick up a point against Ukraine away in Poland before then making no mistake as they smashed their bitter rivals Scotland 3-1 at Hamden Park, Southgate could soon look to freshen things up.

Southgate Keeping Tabs On Former Manchester Duo

Next summer’s European Championship out in Germany could very likely be the last major tournament that Southgate leads England into so he can no longer rely on players not up to speed because he’s loyal, and instead, must pick players who are in the form of their careers.

The Telegraph have recently claimed that a trio of players yet to receive a senior cap or even call-up are now firmly on Southgate’s radar as the next international break approaches in October and they are Gordon, Gomes and Trafford.

Newcastle United’s Gordon has been in scintillating form this season registering two goals and an assist thus far and has started all but one league game and he is no stranger to the England set-up having starred at centre forward during the U21 Euros this summer.

TAKE A BOW, JAMES TRAFFORD! 👏👏

The England keeper saves a late penalty, and then the rebound to hand England the European U21 title 🏆 pic.twitter.com/wGUGsjyvc9

— SPORTbible (@sportbible) July 8, 2023

Gordon was signed for £40 million in January by Newcastle and struggled to establish himself under Eddie Howe but after a summer of promise, he is now firmly a first-choice winger for the Magpies.

Next up on Southgate’s list is the former Manchester United midfielder, Gomes, who is now a regular and dominant force out in Ligue 1 for Lille, having spent a season out on loan in Portugal earning his stripes.

Gomes was a ‘highly rated’ teenager at Man United, according to the report in The Telegraph, but he failed to see any opportunities emerging at Old Trafford and leaving his first club looks to have been the making of him as he’s now pushing the likes of Phillips and Henderson for a spot in the senior squad.

£40 Million Gordon Is Impressing Southgate

Finally, and potentially more bad news for Aaron Ramsdale following his relegation to the Arsenal bench, Burnley’s Trafford has caught the eye of Southgate since his summer heroics for the Young Three Lions.

Trafford left Man City over the summer and joined Vincent Kompany’s Burnley side, and while he’s yet to keep his first clean sheet as a Premier League shot-stopper, the fact he’s already made 20 saves and looks like a calm and composed keeper at the age of 20 shows why he is being tracked by Southgate.

This is a sign that leaving big clubs can be scary for young players as it may signal they haven’t made it in football, but taking a step back and potentially down the footballing pyramid, could be the start of a fruitful career.