Cole Palmer, Rico Lewis & Ezri Konsa Called up to England Squad for November Fixtures

Gareth Southgate has added Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, Manchester City’s Rico Lewis and Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa to his England squad for the November international break.

The reshuffle comes as Southgate’s initial squad was hit with a series of injuries. James Maddison, Lewis Dunk and Callum Wilson have all been forced to withdraw and there could be a handful of other changes in the coming days.

In their places are Palmer, Lewis and Konsa, all of whom are in line to make their debuts for their country in the upcoming Euro 2024 qualification fixtures against Malta and North Macedonia.

Palmer’s call-up comes less than 24 hours after he played a starring role in Chelsea’s enthralling 4-4 draw with Manchester City, in which he scored a stoppage-time equaliser to take his return to four goals and four assists in 11 games for the Blues this season.

18-year-old Lewis, a right-back who has often played in midfield for City, has managed ten appearances this season for Pep Guardiola, who recently claimed the teenager would be one of the best players in the Premier League if he was slightly taller.

Lewis will be joined in defence by Konsa, who has played every minute for Aston Villa this season as Unai Emery’s side surged to fifth in the league standings.