Thomas Tuchel made Ivan Toney the wildcard selection of his World Cup squad after holding clear-the-air talks with him over his attitude. The England head coach also considered how Harry Kane likes to play alongside Toney before making the Al-Ahli striker the most eye-catching inclusion of his 26-man party for the tournament.
Tuchel’s squad announcement at Wembley was dominated as ever by the players he overlooked – chiefly Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Harry Maguire. Tuchel said Palmer had “just failed” to produce consistently this season, while he admitted he no longer knew Foden’s best position.