Premier League bosses are concerned their stars will be driven to breaking point if England pick their strongest possible squad for this summer’s European Under-21 Championships.
Lee Carsley’s team travel to Slovakia aiming to retain the title they won two years ago and Carsley is expected to pick an extremely strong squad, with players like Adam Wharton, Morgan Rogers, Levi Colwill, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Tino Livramento among those with caps at senior level who would still be eligible for the Under-21 tournament.
Yet Mail Sport understands there is unease among Premier League clubs who fear their young stars need a proper break this summer, and that the risk of injury grows if they do not have one.
Wharton, 21, has struggled with injury this term and was selected both for last summer’s European Championships and the Under-21 tournament in 2023, meaning he has not had a clear break between seasons since 2022.
Rogers, meanwhile, has played 51 times for Aston Villa across the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League while Lewis-Skelly has become a key man for Arsenal, as have Livramento and Colwill for Newcastle and Chelsea respectively.
All those players may be part of Thomas Tuchel’s plans for the senior side, too, although their summer schedule is relatively light.
England’s World Cup qualifier in Andorra on June 7 is followed by a friendly against Senegal at the City Ground on June 10 – two days before the Under-21s open their campaign against the Czech Republic.
Club versus country duels over participation in junior tournaments have raged before. Jack Wilshere was eventually persuaded to pull out of the Under-21 squad in 2011, while Harry Kane played in the Under-21 tournament four years later.
Then-Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino blamed Kane’s slow start to the following campaign on his busy summer schedule.