England stars who must retire now: Arsenal player and Euro final starter

England face an uncertain future over their manager but a fair few players should remove themselves from the talent pool, including an Arsenal forward.

10) Tyrick Mitchell

Once England figured out that a possible solution to their left-back problem was to simply not select one at all, Mitchell was always in grave danger of not adding to the pair of caps he earned in March 2022. Kyle Walker-Peters and James Justin at least offer the illusion of versatility but each defender occupies a space on the distant periphery all the same.

Two major tournaments have come and gone since Mitchell’s debut with no serious suggestion he came close to making those squads. The consistent omissions have planted a seed that the Jamaican FA hope will blossom into a switch of allegiance. The theory persists that the Palace full-back isn’t quite elite international standard, but he is at least the right shape for a hole England seem intent on digging for themselves.

9) Conor Coady

The England dressing room has not been the same since December 2022. Games and training sessions have been considerably quieter and it doesn’t bear thinking about the state of the squad WhatsApp group without its diligent admin.

For a solid two-year stretch, Coady was the consummate England traveller. Steve Holland named him his “player of the tournament so far” in the build-up to the Euro 2021 semi-finals, which went some way to explaining his inclusion in the Qatar World Cup team 18 months later. He did not play a single minute of either competition – those 10 international caps were spread across friendlies, qualifiers and Nations League fixtures – but the coaches felt they could not do without his presence across a series of camps.

It is the sort of non-playing influence Leicester are hoping to benefit from in their fight for Premier League survival, with the England baton long since unofficially handed over.

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8) Callum Wilson

The opportunity was there to become a World Cup scorer but Wilson was right: the angle “was closing up” and squaring for Jack Grealish to score England’s sixth goal against Iran in their Qatar 2022 opener was the percentage call.

But in expressing a belief that such selfless acts would be “repaid” in the future, Wilson set himself up for disappointment. The striker has only made four subsequent appearances for England and none have been starts, while the conversion of a penalty against Malta in June 2023 was no favour from unused substitute Grealish.

A combination of injuries, his careless loss of a starting place at Newcastle and the continued development of his fellow Harry Kane boot-shiners have likely shut the England door before he was ready.

7) James Ward-Prowse

“I’ve been in and out of the squad over the last few years,” was a creative way for Ward-Prowse to acknowledge, in March 2024, that he had not been picked by his country for 18 months.

Plenty has changed since, including his club, but it seems doubtful that an international future remains “in the back of my mind” for a player who has seen the England midfield transform during his sustained hiatus. Ward-Prowse’s set-piece prowess alone was enough to warrant a preliminary squad place at the last two tournaments but Messrs Trent, Bukayo, Cole and Phil have ensured even that is no longer the niche it once was.

6) Tammy Abraham

Plenty have racked up fewer England caps while playing abroad but it always felt as though Abraham’s international prospects would soon suffer for a lack of proper exposure. A debut season for Roma brought 27 goals but only five caps, of which just two were starts.

Once that lofty bar inevitably and almost instantly became difficult to reach at club level, the 27-year-old faded into an England irrelevance only reinforced by injuries as his contemporaries based in the Premier League took advantage of the spotlight. As unlikely as Abraham recapturing his best form seems, it doesn’t feel like it would make much difference to his England standing anyway.

5) Eric Dier

Paul Scholes might be surprised to learn that Dier, who was “playing in front of” Matthijs de Ligt last season, has not started a single game for Bayern Munich yet in 2024/25 even though his understudy has long since departed for Manchester United. Vincent Kompany has handed out about half an hour’s worth of substitute cameos to the 30-year-old, who is otherwise carrying out his role of keeping Harry Kane company wonderfully well.

Those restricted minutes naturally impact on his already sparse England chances. Dier’s most recent cap was at the 2022 World Cup and his last start in an international win was in November 2020. He has not come close to a squad since joining Bayern.

Kane, by the way, is the only player to ever earn more England caps while playing for Spurs (84) than Dier (49). That feels simultaneously hilariously wrong and impossibly right.

4) Ivan Toney

Enough of a precedent had been set to indicate that moving to Saudi Arabia does not necessarily indicate the immediate closing of a door on a player’s England career. Gareth Southgate stood staunchly by Jordan Henderson – some might argue to a fault – when he swapped the Premier League platform for Middle East money, and that loyalty might well have extended to another major tournament had he not sustained an injury in the build-up to Euro 2024.

But that was born of desperation fuelled by uncertainty over the country’s entire midfield, as well as loyalty built up over eight years and more than 50 caps together. Toney cannot rely on that same managerial faith, nor is there a lack of positional depth he can exploit.

England will soon need to move on from Kane, but the answer is not in someone three years younger, whose Al-Ahli career thus far has produced a scoring rate of less than a goal every other game.

Lee Carsley offered a lifeline by saying “it would be really interesting to go out and see Ivan play and see the level and see the tempo and see the standard,” but the Ronald Koeman route seems the most sensible one to take here.

3) Jordan Henderson

The selfless test subject for how a Saudi move might ultimately influence an England career, Henderson sought assurances over his international future, was promised a fair crack, received four caps while representing Al-Ettifaq and lost a place he has not come particularly close to regaining since in November 2023.

There is a suggestion that Sunderland could provide Henderson with an olive branch back to playing for his country but it seems fanciful. He is playing relatively frequently at a high level for Ajax; the problem is that England have moved on.

2) Raheem Sterling

“I love playing for England. It is one of the best feelings you can ever have,” said Sterling in August, adding: “I am looking forward to getting back in the England set-up, that is for sure.”

In the same interview he also stated that Enzo Maresca can get the “best out of me”, so the pressure is on not to make it a clean sweep of unfortunate career projections.

The Arsenal loan theoretically improves the probability of a first call-up since the 2022 World Cup but it would require a level of sustained form Sterling has not produced for years to stand out in a crowded position. England are ludicrously stocked in those forward roles and forcing a way back in seems about as likely as thriving under Maresca at Chelsea.

1) Kyle Walker

There have been natural opportunities for England to abandon their Walker-shaped comfort blanket. It was claimed after a reported lockdown breach in 2020 that Southgate would never pick the right-back again, but when he did return it culminated with a sending-off against Iceland later that year and Walker publicly expressing his “hope” that his international career wasn’t over.

That was his 49th cap and 42 more have followed. The Euro 2024 final should really have marked the end for a player whose main strength is no longer as reliable as it needs to be. England have an embarrassment of right-back riches and should start taking advantage.

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