ENGLAND manager Thomas Tuchel handed a surprise call-up to an uncapped Premier League star.
Tuchel, 52, named his squad on Friday for upcoming fixtures against Wales as well as Latvia and sprung a couple of shocks in his selection.
And the surprises continued three days later as Manchester City ace Nico O’Reilly was called up.
O’Reilly, 20, earned a late call after Chelsea captain Reece James was forced to withdraw.
James suffered an injury during Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge.
Thus, O’Reilly could be set for his England debut either on Thursday’s friendly against Wales at Wembley or the following Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier at Latvia.
The midfielder has been capped from Under-15 through to Under-20 level.
The Man City ace has amassed one assist in nine appearances across all competitions this season.
The versatile No8 counts only 15 Premier League appearances ever since his senior debut with the Citizens in 2024.
But the central midfielder has started in seven of all of City’s nine games this term.
O’Reilly’s inclusion wasn’t Tuchel’s only surprise decision when announcing his England team.
The German tactician also left out Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham because he is still lacking rhythm.
Tuchel said: “The last camp was only three-and-a-half weeks ago. Team work, team spirit were at the highest level so far.
“That’s why we decided to invite the same group into this camp, to make more stable what we started to build.
“Are there players out there who deserve to be with us? Yes, for sure. Is there a way back into the team through performance? 100 per cent.
‘We think this is the best and most straightforward position. The competition is on to be in the squad and to make it onto the pitch.
“Jude is a very special player and for special players there can be special rules but for this camp, we thought to stick with our decision to stick with the same team.
“There is an extra layer in that he has not fully gathered rhythm and has not finished a full match until now and has only started one match.
“He wanted to be called up. We had a phone call but he has not finished a match as I said.”
Tuchel also opted to leave out O’Reilly’s City team-mates Phil Foden and Jack Grealish, who’s currently on loan at Everton, despite both players enjoying positive starts to the season.
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