Gareth Southgate explains decision to pick Eddie Nketiah and Levi Colwill in England squad

England manager Gareth Southgate has explained his decision to pick Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah and Chelsea’s Levi Colwill in his latest England squad. Both players could be set to earn their first caps for the Three Lions as Southgate’s team prepare to face Ukraine and Scotland on September 9 and September 12.

England’s match against Ukraine is a Euro 2024 qualifier while the clash with Scotland is a friendly to mark 150 years since the first meeting between the two sides in 1872.

Eddie Nketiah

Nketiah has an incredible record with England U21s, scoring 16 goals across 17 games, and has also impressed at U18, U19 and U20 level. The 24-year-old striker has been thrown into a more prominent role at Arsenal following injury to Gabriel Jesus – scoring two goals across the Gunners’ first three Premier League games of the new season – with starts in the first two fixtures.

Levi Colwill

Southgate has also picked 20-year-old defender Colwill, who has started and played 90 minutes in all three of Chelsea’s Premier League matches this season. Colwill starred on loan at Brighton last season and has been thrown into the Chelsea XI after impressing new head coach Mauricio Pochettino.

Gareth Southgate on Nketiah and Colwill

While Nketiah has been called up to the senior squad for the first time, it is the second time for Colwill, who was picked in June but did not make his debut. Quizzed about his decision to pick Nketiah and Colwill, Southgate said: ‘Two young players who are doing very well.

‘They have done well with our junior teams. Levi of course had some time with us in the summer anyway. I didn’t want to move the squad around too much this early into the season. But we’ve had a lot of people at the back with (injury) issues, so we’ve had to make some changes there.

‘The only other change is Eddie, who is coming in because it’s an area where we would like to have a look at him. He’s a young player with really good pedigree. He’s a really good finisher. It’s good for him to have some time with us. He’s the record goalscorer with the U21s and he’s not had the chance to work with us up to this point, but he is a player that we are really interested in.

‘He (Levi Colwill) is doing really well. He’s progressing. We liked him at the end of last season with Brighton, which is why we brought him in to train with us. He had a really good tournament with the U21s. He showed under pressure he can cope. He’s started well at Chelsea in a slightly different position. It’s early stages in his career but he has made good progress.’

Conclusion

It is clear that Gareth Southgate has faith in both Eddie Nketiah and Levi Colwill, and believes they have what it takes to make an impact on the international stage. With both players impressing in their respective clubs this season, they will be looking to make their mark when they take on Ukraine and Scotland later this month.