Thomas Tuchel has just completed his first international camp as England manager and no Manchester United players were involved.
England were victorious in games against Albania and Latvia over the last week as Thomas Tuchel got off to a good start in charge of the Three Lions.
It was only the second England camp that had not included a current Manchester United player since 1976, with the first time coming earlier this season.
Marcus Rashford was involved and is still technically a United player, however, he is currently on loan at Premier League side Aston Villa.
Harry Maguire was among the players not to be chosen despite having been an important player for England under Gareth Southgate in recent years.
Tuchel lauds Maguire and keeps World Cup door open
Maguire will be 33 heading into the 2026 World Cup and there may have been fears that his international career was over after Tuchel was appointed.
However, the German manager has praised the United defender as a “top professional” following his reaction to the news that he wouldn’t be in the squad.
Tuchel also added that Maguire will “always be in contention” to return to the squad ahead of next summer’s tournament in the United States.
“He was not fit when we did the nomination,” explained the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss when discussing Maguire’s absence.
“It was presumed that he can play but I didn’t want to take the risk to nominate a player in which we have to take care in the first training, second training and constantly need to assess if he can do full training session, half training session.
“Harry knows that. It’s not so easy at the moment for him in the club. He plays in a back three on top of it but, listen, he’s a top professional, he’s very important, he was very important for England.
“He took it unbelievably well. He wrote me messages to wish us good luck, so you see what a person he is, a top guy. He will always be in contention.”
Maguire deserves another England tournament
It would feel unfair to see Maguire’s career for England fizzle out before another chance at a tournament, especially because he missed Euro 2024 through injury.
The United defender played through various issues for the club in the back-end of the 2023/24 campaign before he was unable to make it back in time for England.
In every tournament he’s been at with his country, Maguire has been one of the best players on the team and with the next European Championships coming after he turns 35, it seems like next year is his last chance to compete in a major tournament for his country.
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But it seems like Tuchel has not ruled out the possibility and all Maguire has to do from now on is try and impress at Old Trafford.
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