How Gareth Southgate broke up England’s ‘Avengers’
- Grealish and Maddison were two of the highest-profile players left out of squad
- Just one player from ‘The Avengers’ WhatsApp group will feature at the Euros
- Click here to follow Mail Sport’s Euro 2024 WhatsApp Channel for all the latest breaking news and updates from Germany
James Maddison and Jack Grealish’s Euro 2024 omissions mean there will be no involvement in the England squad for ‘The Avengers’ WhatsApp group.
The Manchester City and Tottenham midfielders were two of the most surprising axes by Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate, who named his 26-man squad for the tournament in Germany on Thursday.
Harry Maguire, Jarrad Branthwaite and Curtis Jones were also among those cut, with the likes of Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton set to take part in their first major international tournaments.
There will be no such participation for ‘The Avengers’, however, a WhatsApp group featuring a number of now-former England players such as Maddison, Grealish, Dele Alli and Ben Chilwell.
Maddison told EA Sports of the group, whose final members are Ross Barkley and John McGinn, though all of the Englishmen in the group have been dropped ahead of the tournament, with McGinn, who plays for Scotland, the only man set to feature.
The absence of Jack Grealish (left) and James Maddison (right) from the England squad means no players from ‘The Avengers’ WhatsApp group have been included
Maddison revealed that a number of now-former England players are in a group chat on the social media app
Players involved have performed an ‘A’ celebration over the years a signal to the group chat
‘We have a little group chat called The Avengers,’ Maddison admitted, to former Hull midfielder David Meyler.
What followed was various members of the group performing an ‘A’ celebration with their fingers on-the-pitch, which is suggested to be linked to the alliance.
Reports had indicated that the celebration was in honour of Chelsea supporter Andrew ‘Woody’ Wood after his death in early October.
‘Obviously he was my best friend here and welcomed me into the club [Leicester], I knew him through the England Under-21s and the England set-up anyway,’ Maddison previously said of Chilwell.
‘You just have that one guy who’s like your best friend who you’ll have a coffee with, you’ll see outside of football and stuff and that was Chilly [Chilwell] for me. We built up a great relationship on and off the pitch.’
When asked who is more vocal in the group chat, meanwhile, Grealish told UMM’s Assumptions in 2021: ‘Me or Madders. On that point (Maddison) is on the group chat 24/7. Someone writes in it and then bam, he’s ready straight away. Constantly in there.
‘Then there’s people like Chilly, he’d be online and he wouldn’t read it.’
Grealish, who cost Manchester City £100million when he joined from Aston Villa in 2021, also revealed that a winter trip to Dubai sparked the beginning of the Avengers group chat that has brought the promising midfielders together despite their different club alliances.
Ben Chilwell (left) is also included in the chat, and is good friends with the likes of Grealish
Maddison spoke about his close friendship with Chilwell from their days together at Leicester
Chilwell, who also missed out on the squad after an injury-hit season, has also performed an ‘A’ with his hands
Speaking about how the group started, headded: ‘It was when we went to Dubai last year on that winter break. Have you watched the film Avengers? I haven’t. But that’s like loads of people or something, like a group?
‘I didn’t even know that [the Avengers film is an elite group of individuals]. I don’t even know who put it together actually.’
The group could now be set to holiday together again, having been snapped abroad on a number of occasions in the past.
While Grealish and Maddison failed to make the cut when the squad was trimmed from 33 players to 26, none of the other players made the 33 man provisional squad announced last month.
Chilwell, who featured for England in the last group of internationals in March, has 21 caps for his country but hasn’t started a Premier League game since March in a season plagued with injuries.
Alli, who is also injured, has fallen way down the pecking order as he tries to recover his career at Everton, but has targeted the 2026 World Cup for an England return.
Barkley was mentioned as a potential call-up for the squad following an impressive season at Luton, but hasn’t played for England since 2019.
Maddison and Grealish have been friends for a number of years but will not be at the Euros
England won’t be seeing the left-side link-up between old friends Grealish and Chilwell this summer
Dele Alli (left), Ross Barkely (centre) and John McGinn (right) are the other members of the group on WhatsApp
Grealish is said to have been ‘stunned and upset’ by his shock exclusion from the Three Lions squad on Thursday
The decision to drop Grealish has provided a mixed reaction from fans on social media and, according to The Telegraph, there was even some dismay among the England camp.
The outlet reported that one player spoke to Southgate in the immediate aftermath to try to understand the call and help explain it to team-mates. Others are said to have rallied around the 28-year-old.
It is also suggested that Grealish was ‘stunned and upset’, though there is no suggestion the decision sparked argument or confrontation.
Mindful of his place being at risk, Grealish had cut short his holiday in order to boost his chances of making it to Germany. Man City and Man United players were not due to report until the start of this week following their participation in the FA Cup final on May 25.
