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Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden booted out of England squad

Manchester United's Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden of Manchester City have been kicked out of the En...


Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden...

Sport

Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden booted out of England squad


Manchester United's Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden of Manchester City have been kicked out of the England squad before tomorrow's match against Denmark.

England manager Gareth Southgate confirmed at a press conference this afternoon that the two players, who only made their debuts against Iceland at the weekend, are not travelling to Copenhagen for their UEFA Nations League match tomorrow.

"Unfortunately this morning it was brought to my attention two guys have broken the covid guidelines in terms of our secure bubble and so we had to decide very quickly they could not have any interaction with the team and could not travel to training," said Southgate at the press conference.

"Given the procedures we have to follow they will have to travel back to separately."

The news comes after a story in the Icelandic publication DV alleged that the England internationals had brought two females back to their hotel room in in Reykjavik after Southgate's side had beaten Iceland 1-0 in the Nations League opener.

The report, which contains a very short Snapchat video and photos, says that the two players had violated Iceland's Covid-19 rules with regard to self-isolation and that they were not even permitted to meet their families.

The two women would not comment when contacted by DV this morning and are said to be "devastated" that the photos had been reported in the news.

"We are still getting to the depths of the information. I am still getting to grips with the details but what is clear there was a breach of the covid guidelines.

"We have spent such a long time getting the measures in place and the whole squad have followed that.

"We have had four tests since we have been together and the staff have done an incredible job to keep it safe and tight.

"In that respect we had no alternative to do what we are doing.

"I am not going into any more detail. No-one from outside our party has been in the hotels we occupy."

This is the second major disciplinary issue involving a United player this month, after captain Harry Maguire was arrested in Greece.

Southgate was forced to drop Maguire from his squad after picking him initially.



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