Jude Bellingham has been added to England’s leadership group in a sign of his standing among his Three Lions team-mates. The Real Madrid midfielder has been named in a four-man group to report to Gareth Southgate.
Harry Kane, England’s captain, is joined in the leadership group by Bellingham, Declan Rice and Kyle Walker. Harry Maguire had previously been a member but has been forced to miss Euro 2024 after failing to recover from a calf injury.
Southgate has included Bellingham, who is just 20, to ensure the feelings of the 26-man squad’s younger players are represented.
“There are a lot of younger players and I want to make sure I am in touch with the voices of the younger players as well,” the England manager said. “I don’t want to leave here with any stone unturned.
“I don’t want to have missed anything and it is always important to know what the players are thinking. They have good views, they have good experiences. And also, there will be some decisions I will take without talking to any of them.”
Southgate will lean on the four players throughout the tournament.
The 53-year-old continued: “I want the opinion of the four boys, but also they are involved with different age groups in the squad, so will be able to pick up what’s going on in different areas of the squad.
“We have got 26 [players], it’s not easy to keep track of how everybody is every day and you want to open up that dialogue. Sometimes with younger players, they are normally going to be a little bit more reluctant to approach the head coach or manager and talk about what they are thinking, so you want a sense check of what’s going on on the ground.
“I think for those boys, they are leaders. The squad has taken on a younger dynamic and it is so important they start to embrace responsibility in those areas.
“It shouldn’t just be on the older players to lead, a lot of our younger players have a lot of caps and a lot of big-match experience. I could have put more into the group but I think four is enough. We will meet regularly and feed back on everything.”
England begin their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia in Group C on Sunday night. They then face Denmark (June 20) and Slovenia (June 25).
Bellingham is widely expected to start behind Kane in England’s first line-up. The former Borussia Dortmund and Birmingham player will win his 30th senior international cap.
