Rooney ‘shocked’ by decision to leave out Chilwell

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Wayne Rooney has questioned the decision not to include Ben Chilwell in the England squad for Euro 2024.

England boss Gareth Southgate left the Chelsea man out after injury restricted Chilwell to just 12 Premier League appearances last season.

Many believe Chilwell should still have been included – particularly as Manchester United’s Luke Shaw, who is in the squad, has not been fit enough to play.


Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier, primarily a right-back, has been playing at left-back but picked up a knock against Slovenia, potentially leaving England short of options.

“I was very surprised and really shocked that Ben Chilwell didn’t get picked just for balance of having a left-footed player there,” former England star Rooney said on the Football Daily podcast.

“You’re talking about Ben Chilwell who’s playing at Chelsea and he’s played well for England in the past.”

Chelsea duo Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer were included in the squad.

Gallagher started against Slovenia but was taken off at half-time, while Palmer impressed after coming on as a second-half substitute during the 0-0 draw.

Southgate said after the game: “We wanted to start with Conor because we wanted to press better and we felt we haven’t been winning the ball high enough up the pitch.

“Part of the game we weren’t able to get was his forward runs where he can exploit opposition defences, so he was ending up receiving the ball a bit deeper.”