England legend Gary Lineker has called it “insulting” that Trent Alexander-Arnold was left out of the latest Three Lions squad.
Boss Thomas Tuchel originally called up Tino Livramento and Jarell Quansah, both of whom can cover right-back, with Reece James out injured.
When Quansah was forced to leave camp through injury, the natural next step would have been to introduce Alexander-Arnold, with many shocked he wasn’t in the original list, especially with the absence of James.
Gary Lineker nods to “personal” issue between Thomas Tuchel and Trent Alexander-Arnold
Instead, the German head coach turned to Ben White, who hadn’t played a minute of football for England since 2022, and was later revealed to have taken himself out of the running by former manager Gareth Southgate.
Former England star Lineker believes this Alexander-Arnold snub must be based on more than pure footballing ability.
“I think there’s something personal, because football-wise there’s no argument,” a baffled Lineker said on his podcast, The Rest Is Football. “I can’t see how he cannot be in that squad because he has to improve your chances, even if it’s from the bench.”
That leads the former Match of the Day host to think there may be a little more than mere selection preference going on here.
“I suspect there’s something that Tuchel does not like about Trent Alexander-Arnold,” he revealed. “I’m guessing in terms of what it might be, whether it’s his attitude, whether it’s he’s not brilliant defensively. There has to be something in that because it makes absolutely no sense.
“You’ve got players playing in his position, with all due respect, that are not in the same league as him, certainly with the ball at his feet.
“I can’t see how he [Ben White] can still be ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold. I think that it’s really insulting to a seriously top full-back.”
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, it feels like Lineker is probably on the money – Alexander-Arnold has not had the easiest start to life in Madrid, but there’s no way he’s behind four other English right-backs.
Quansah does offer cover at both centre-back and right-back, which the Los Blancos man doesn’t, but Tuchel already had six other centre-backs at his disposal from the original announcement, so he’s hardly light in that department.
There’s a sense of a point being made with this England camp, but a player as talented as Alexander-Arnold could definitely offer something in this upcoming World Cup.
Alexander-Arnold is valued at €65m, according to Transfermarkt.
