Gareth Southgate has warned Manchester United captain Harry Maguire and Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips potentially face “hard” competition for their England places amid their lack of club game time.
Maguire started just 16 games last season, of which just eight came in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Phillips only started his first Premier League game for City after they had won the title, starting in the 1-0 win over Chelsea in May. He made just four starts in all competitions, having missed nearly three months at the start of the season due to a shoulder injury.
Both Phillips and Maguire were included in Southgate’s England squad for this month’s Euro2024 qualifying wins over Malta and North Macedonia. Maguire started both matches while Phillips played 30 minutes as a substitute in the 7-0 thrashing of the latter on Monday.
Speaking afterwards, Southgate admitted that both players are at risk of losing their spots amid a lack of domestic game time given the competition for places.
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He said: “Harry is captain of an incredible football club so that is a difficult situation, he will obviously be frustrated not to play as much as he would like but I think he has handled that really well, he has publicly talked well about supporting the team.
“It is clear, really. I think Harry and Kalvin are the two who have played the least in terms of guys in this squad this season but we have gone with them because in these two positions we think they are still ahead of others that might have played more.
“But it is then hard when that competition gets more even and you are not playing regularly to see their form, see their fitness so that is the challenge for everybody.”
Maguire could leave United this summer with the defender set to be put up for sale. He is one of a number of England players who could be on the move with Kyle Walker, Declan Rice and Mason Mount all potentially leaving their current clubs.
Referencing the demand of players at the top clubs, Southgate added: “We have got a few players with a lot going on, really.
“They have managed to park that brilliantly in their period with us but there is potentially quite a few moves this summer that would be hugely important for their own careers and for us.
“As a player you are always going to back yourself and you are always going to try and make the best decision with the information you have got.
“But every move comes with risk, you are going from an environment where you are doing well to an environment where new ideas, new training schedules, new tactical requirements so you might have to move house, your family might have to move so nothing is guaranteed.
“But as a player you definitely need and want to play and we have players who are good enough to play at the highest possible level. But in the biggest clubs there is also amazing competition for places and you have to accept that if you want to be at a big club, there is competition every week to play.”
