Reece James has been promoted to the senior England squad from the U21 group today, as confirmed by The FA, as the Three Lions begin preparations for three (3!) matches in the next nine days. England will take on Belgium (Sunday) and Denmark (next Wednesday, October 14) in the UEFA Nations League, but will also play a friendly against Wales before then, which is coming up on Thursday.
(Yes, that’s right, not only are we still doing international breaks amidst a pandemic, we’re filling them with more games! Because reasons.)
England manager Gareth Southgate will need a big squad to properly handle all that and distribute minutes reasonably, which is part of the reason he’s decided to add James. The other part involves an injury to Raheem Sterling, as well as the uncertainty surrounding Tammy Abraham, Jadon Sancho, and Ben Chilwell after the trio broke COVID-19 rules by attending Tammy’s (surprise) birthday party.
But, in any case, congrats to Reece, who now becomes the second youngest player in the squad after Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka. James, Saka, goalkeeper Dean Henderson, and forwards Harvey Barnes and the absolutely on-fire Dominic Calvert-Lewin are all in line for their England senior debuts.