Jadon Sancho has previously risked the wrath of Gareth Southgate after reportedly turning up late for a team meeting while on England duty.
The Manchester United star was not included in Southgate's 26 man squad for the upcoming World Cup, just 18 months since he featured at Euro 2020. He will instead spend this winter watching the events in Qatar as a fan having lost his place in Southgate's plans.
There was little surprise that he was not included in the squad, with the winger having struggled for form since joining United after the Euros. It now appears though that concerns over his character also played a part in Southgate's decision to overlook him.
According to The Telegraph, Sancho's timekeeping had become an 'issue' for England's backroom staff. In one case, the 22-year-old was late for a team meeting held ahead of the win over Andorra in the qualifiers last October.
Southgate is said to have a rule that team meetings only start when every player is present in the room. Sancho left the rest of the squad waiting for him, with the winger left out of the next Three Lions squad.
He was also not selected for the friendlies against Switzerland and the Ivory Coast. In fact, the win over Andorra was Sancho's last outing for the Three Lions, with Southgate omitting him from the entirety of this year's Nations League campaign.
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This is not the first time there have been concerns about Sancho's timekeeping while on international duty. While he was playing for the Under-19s, Sancho was left on the bench as punishment for turning up late to a training session.
Southgate admitted it was difficult to deliver the news that players such as Sancho had not made the squad. But he insisted that the balance of his squad was right, despite the winger's absence.
“My priority always on these days is the difficult conversations and the sad news, and that is really tough. There are not many situations in football harder than that, maybe releasing a young player at the early stages of their career," the England boss said.
"But the nature of those conversations, good and bad, reminds you of how much it means to a player to go to a World Cup and I'm very conscious of that. So it is a great day. But also for some I've had to disappoint them.
“We wanted to make sure we had the balance of the squad right. I think in this day and age, the squad is more important than ever. With five substitutes, you can have half of your team change during a game, so you want different options for different moments of matches and for different stages of the tournament as well.
“But we think the balance is there and we have cover in the positions we need. We're lighter on depth in some positions than others in our country but we think we've got everything covered.”
