Eli Junior Kroupi will surely not remain uncapped for long, but there have been four changes during this international break.
This best uncapped Premier League XI will change over the next few weeks…
Goalkeeper: Carl Rushworth (Coventry City, not England)
Antonin Kinsky finally got his first Czech cap so Rushworth steps into this XI. But as we wrote here: ‘A nailed-on call-up within the next couple of years, but James Trafford had to sacrifice 427 farmyard animals just for the honour of having Marc Guehi ruin his big day; those back-up keeper minutes are not as easy to come by.’
Right-back: Archie Gray (Tottenham, not England)
Another change after Brentford’s Michael Kayode earned caps for Italy while Gray has been playing for (and sometimes captaining) England’s Under-21s. He has been starting games for a Big Six club. The problem? That Big Six club is Tottenham.
Centre-back: Sven Botman (Newcastle United, not Netherlands)
It’s really quite astonishing that Botman remains uncapped while his lofty Newcastle United teammate Dan Burn is merrily collecting England caps. But Botman faces some very, very tough competition in Virgil van Dijk, Micky van de Ven, Nathan Ake and Jan Paul van Hecke.
Centre-back: Jaydee Canvot (Crystal Palace, not France)
The summer signing from Toulouse is a France Under-21 regular and so takes this spot from Leny Yoro, who somehow played for France despite struggling to get near a rotten Manchester United team.
Left-back: Olivier Boscagli (Brighton, not France)
Currently Brighton’s first-choice left-back and doing a fine job, thank you very much. But at 28, he’s unlikely to turn his many France youth caps into senior honours. Which probably suits Brighton just fine.
Central midfield: Nico Gonzalez (Newcastle United, not Spain)
Very, very expensive for an uncapped player but City paid a January tax on Nico, who had represented Spain at every level bar the big one. He did not make himself indispensable in his first season in England and was then sold to Newcastle for another pretty big fee for an uncapped player.
Central midfield: Jack Hinshelwood (Brighton, not England)
We rank him as the second-most-likely uncapped England player to get himself one of those weird caps with the tassles. He has seen Alex Scott called up and capped; he seems the most likely to follow him, holding the advantage of being able to play in several positions.
Right wing: Max Dowman (Arsenal, not England)
He’s 16 and has played just a few minutes of Premier League football this season so he really should not be anywhere near the England squad. But certain pundits keep claiming that he should be in the England squad, even though he is already way ahead of his age group in the Under-19 squad.
Attacking midfield: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Everton, not England)
He has the misfortune of playing in a very hotly contested position within the England set-up. If Morgan Gibbs-White struggles to get in the England squad as a 10 then what chance does Dewsbury-Hall have? He has apparently turned down Ireland because he believes he can still play for England. We think he might be wrong but he’s a good addition to this XI.
Left wing: Marcus Tavernier (Bournemouth, not England)
Linked with an outside chance of an England call-up after a three-goal start to the season for the Cherries but at 27, he would already be one of the oldest members of the squad. But England do have a left-sided issue and Tavernier might only be two injuries away from a shock call.
Striker: Eli Junior Kroupi (Bournemouth, not France)
He’s eligible to play for France, Portugal and Ivory Coast but he considers himself very much French and turned down the chance to play at the World Cup with Portugal. Kroupi does have Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele in his path for France but if Esteban Lepaul can get the call then there’s no reason why Kroupi – when fit – cannot follow. We would also confidently predict that he will not be playing for Bournemouth this time next year.
