Mason Greenwood pulls out of England Euro 2020 squad with injury
Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood has left the England camp and will miss the European Championships because of a pre-existing injury.
The 19-year-old played his way back into the England squad for the first time since September 2020 with an excellent end to the season that saw him rack up six goals and one assists in his last eight appearances in the Premier League.
He had been expected to earn a spot in Gareth Southgate's final 26-man squad for this summer's Euros, but United took to their official website to confirm that Greenwood has been forced to miss out.
"Manchester United striker Mason Greenwood has withdrawn from the provisional England Euro 2020 squad, in order to recover fully from an underlying injury that also kept him out of the Under-21 European Championship in March," a statement read.
"Mason’s club appearances were managed carefully to maintain his availability through the intensive 2020/21 Premier League and Europa League schedules.
"But a further spell of tournament football would not be beneficial and Mason will remain at Manchester United to recuperate and prepare for pre-season training."
The injury does make Southgate's job a little easier as he now needs to cut just six players from his provisional 33-man squad before Tuesday's deadline of 11pm. The boss is expected to address the media at around 6pm.
With Greenwood out, there could be a spot for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins, while Arsenal's Bukayo Saka could feature if Southgate would prefer more cover out wide.
In midfield, Southampton's James Ward-Prowse is expected to be left at home, as is West Ham's Jesse Lingard, whom David Ornstein notes has not made Southgate's final squad either.
Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold is at risk of being left out in favour of Kyle Walker, Kieran Tripper and newly crowned European champion Reece James, and he could be joined by some of the six centre-backs in Southgate's squad.
The fitness of United's Harry Maguire will need to be checked, with Ben Godfrey, Ben White and Conor Coady all sweating over their status in the team.