“We have so many young England talents and Raheem Sterling is ……. England international manager Garath Southgate has stated the reason for Raheem Sterling snub

England legend John Barnes supports Gareth Southgate’s decision to leave Chelsea star Raheem Sterling out of his squad.

Despite lately showing some outstanding form for his club, Sterling has not featured for his country since the 2022 World Cup.

The forward has five goals and two assists in 14 games this season, most notably scoring in an exciting 4-4 tie with previous club Manchester City.

But it wasn’t enough for Southgate, and while the Three Lions coach insists ‘the door is 100 percent open’ for his return, Sterling, who was once a mainstay in the side, now has an uphill battle to make it to next summer’s Euro 2024.

Despite the fact that several players were left out of the squad for this week’s games against Malta and North Macedonia, Sterling was not called up, with uncapped Blues colleague Cole Palmer earning the nod instead.

The decision to leave out the 28-year-old has been questioned, and while Barnes says he would have chosen him, he believes Southgate’s choice was warranted.

‘Raheem has done well in the last two or three games for Chelsea, and Chelsea haven’t been performing very well up until lately,’ the England and Liverpool legend told bonuscodebets.co.uk.

People are thinking he should be called up based on the last two or three matches, but with the amount of talent available to Gareth Southgate, it’s a difficult scenario.

‘I’ll always have Raheem in the England squad, but I don’t think it’s a problem that Raheem isn’t in the squad. Raheem might be worth a spot in the squad based on recent form, but the squad was chosen before the City game, so he’ll be back at some time.’

As Barnes points out, England has a wide range of possibilities, including Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, and Jarrod Bowen.

People are thinking he should be called up based on the last two or three matches, but with the amount of talent available to Gareth Southgate, it’s a difficult scenario.

‘I’ll always have Raheem in the England squad, but I don’t think it’s a problem that Raheem isn’t in the squad. Raheem might be worth a spot in the squad based on recent form, but the squad was chosen before the City game, so he’ll be back at some time.’

As Barnes points out, England has a wide range of possibilities, including Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, and Jarrod Bowen.

‘Gareth Southgate picks the team, and we trust Gareth Southgate,’ he adds.

‘Fans will always have an opinion on who should and should not be included in the squad. Gareth’s words and actions are respected and trusted by me. He is clear about how he wants his team to play.