Newcastle United captain Jamaal Lascelles has revealed that he believed he was close to an England call-up on two occasions.
The former Nottingham Forest man, who stands at an imposing 6’1″ (source: Transfermarkt), has never been part of a senior England squad, despite captaining the Magpies week in week out at the age of 24.
He refuses to become downbeat, however: “Yeah it would be nice [to be on international duty],” he told NUFC TV.
“I thought I’d be close to the last friendlies ahead of the World Cup, and the game coming up now I thought I was pretty close.
“But, again, Southgate has decided to pick who he’s picked and he’s gone with that team. All I can do is focus on Newcastle, and we need to be winning games now. So that’s my priority at the minute.”
OPINION
Lascelles probably does have a bit of a case here. He’s a talented player and he was superb for Newcastle last season. His problem is that all of a sudden England have a decent crop of centre halves emerging. John Stones seems firmly entrenched as Gareth Southgate’s key man at the back, while Harry Maguire is certain to make the squad after his World Cup heroics. Meanwhile, Kyle Walker has been playing in the centre as part of Southgate’s back five, meaning even less chance of Lascelles making the squad. Add to that the fine form of Joe Gomez and James Tarkowski, and things are looking a little hairy for the Magpies skipper. It’s a shame, because the 24-year-old is a fine player. He just has to keep playing well for his club, demonstrate his leadership qualities, and he will likely get a call-up at some point over the course of the season.