Gareth Southgate has insisted no players will get an extra break this summer - otherwise it would turn England’s campaign into a “shambles.”
England will travel to Malta on June 16 and then face North Macedonia three days later at the end of what will be the longest season in history. It will again put England on collision course with clubs who want their players to have a break to avoid fears of burnout.
There Lions captain Harry Kane kicked off his 2022/23 season with Tottenham on August 6 last year, played at the World Cup in Qatar and will get less than a month in the summer before returning to pre-season training.
Manchester City stars Kyle Walker, John Stones and Phil Foden could also be in the Champions League final on June 10 but Southgate made it clear that no-one will be excused England duty.
England boss Southgate said: “I think we should always pick our strongest possible squad. We’re representing England. Caps have to be earned. Harry Kane won’t want to miss England matches in the summer - I’ll tell you that now.
“I think there’s physical freshness and there’s psychological freshness and I think psychological is key. They’ll get a break before they come and we’ve talked with them about that to make that work in the best possible way.
“I think if we don’t select certain players it sends the wrong message to the group. Then what’s to stop others pulling out and you could end up with a shambles pretty quickly. That’s always a fine balance because as you saw this week if you lose one or two players in the week then very quickly you are short.
“In fact this time we would have had the opportunity with the under-21s to bring them in if needed but if that is the case in the summer and everyone has been on holiday for three weeks then…”
The Premier League season finishes on the final weekend of May, with games on Sunday 28, the FA Cup final is on Sunday, June 3. That means the International fixtures will extend the league season by three weeks and mean that most clubs will get a short break as most clubs are returning to pre-season in mid-July.
England then face the European Championships at the end of 2023/24 which will bring to an end the longest, most gruelling two years in football history.
