The player, who curtailed his holidays to join the England squad early, has faced a challenging season with Manchester City. His struggles were evident as he remained a benchwarmer in the FA Cup final and could start in only one of the last seven Premier League games. This lack of consistent playtime has put his position in the England squad under scrutiny.
Speaking to reporters, Southgate said: "We think we know who the best have been across the season, but what we don’t totally know is how many we need to take or how many we can allow ourselves to take because of the cover we might need in other positions as well. It’s hard to be quite so specific because we keep sitting down and saying: ‘Okay, if it’s this or this’. Then somebody else in the room says, ‘What if we lose that player?’”