Joining the five players called up to the England U21 squad for the Toulon Tournament, six more Chelsea boys heeded the call of the nation for some international football at senior at U19 levels.
#CFC have been the most represented club in all of the most recent England U16, U17, U19, U20 and U21 squads; five in each of them bar U20.
— Chelsea Youth (@chelseayouth) May 16, 2016
England's Brave Gary Cahill is Roy Hodgson's vice-captain, so unsurprisingly he was one of the 26 names included on the preliminary squad list. Former Chelsea player Ryan Bertrand is there as well. Slightly more questionable choices include Andros Townsend, Jack Wilshere, and Marcus Rashford.
Cahill lead England to an impressive 3-2 friendly win over Germany in March, but with Wayne Rooney once again fit, England's leading goalscorer of all time is set to return to his role as captain as well.
England will play 3 friendlies ahead of the Euros: vs. Turkey at the Etihad Stadium (May 22), vs. Australia at the Stadium of Light (May 27), and vs. Portugal at Wembley (June 2). Their first match in the competition proper will be on June 11th against Russia at Olympique Marseille's Stade Vélodrome.
The full 26-man English preliminary squad for the Euros is as follows. Hodgson has four days to cut three players to reach the maximum allowed 23.
Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Southampton), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Tom Heaton (Burnley);
Defenders: Ryan Bertrand (Southampton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), Chris Smalling (Manchester United), John Stones (Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur);
Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Ross Barkley (Everton), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Danny Drinkwater (Leicester City), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Adam Lallana (Liverpool), James Milner (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Andros Townsend (Newcastle United), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal);
Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City).
At the U19 level, five teenagers from the Chelsea Academy got the nod: defenders Jake Clarke-Salter and Fikayo Tomori, and forwards Tammy Abraham, Isaiah Brown and Dominic Solanke. Tomori is a bit of a surprise, having already turned out for Canada's U20 side whom he captained to victory, ironically enough, against England U20 in March. Could he be considering a switch of allegiance? (He's also eligible for Nigeria through his parents.)
England U19s are set for their European Championships in July, with the final group stage and play-offs hosted in Germany. Before that, the English youngsters will travel to Mexico to train and play against El Tri in two matches to be played behind closed doors at Centro de Alto Rendimiento on June 4th and 6th.
Two of the five Chelsea youngsters made their Chelsea first-team debuts this month: Tammy Abraham against Liverpool at Anfield, and Fikayo Tomori against Leicester City at Stamford Bridge, with both coming on as subs Jake Clarke-Salter made his first-team debut the month prior, against Aston Villa in a 4-0 trouncing of the relegation-bound Villans. Meanwhile Isaiah Brown and Dominic Solanke have spent the 2015-16 on loan at Dutch club Vitesse, after making their first-team debuts last season.
The full 24-man U19 English squad for the friendlies against Mexico U19 is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Freddie Woodman (Newcastle United), Sam Howes (West Ham United), Luke Southwood (Reading);
Defenders: Cameron Borthwick-Jackson (Manchester United), Jake Clarke-Salter (Chelsea), Callum Connolly (Everton), Dael Fry (Middlesbrough), Jonjoe Kenny (Everton), Tafari Moore (Arsenal), Taylor Moore (RC Lens), Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea), Kyle Walker-Peters (Tottenham Hotspur);
Midfielders: Lewis Cook (Leeds United), Ryan Ledson (Everton), Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal), Joshua Onomah (Tottenham Hotspur), Reece Oxford (West Ham United), Jordan Rossiter (Liverpool);
Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Chelsea), Adam Armstrong (Newcastle United), Isaiah Brown (Chelsea), Ademola Lookman (Charlton Athletic), Sheyi Ojo (Liverpool), Dominic Solanke (Chelsea).