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Thomas Tuchel admits that a trio of Manchester United players are 'more so in the picture' for his next England squad following the Red Devils' return to form.
Manchester United have not had a single representative in the men's England squad over the past year with the technical exception of Marcus Rashford, who is currently on loan at Barcelona.
Three Manchester United players back in England contention
Harry Maguire did not make the cut for Gareth Southgate's Euro 2024 squad and was in and out of Ruben Amorim's side earlier this season even before suffering a thigh injury in November.
Kobbie Mainoo and Luke Shaw both started the Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain, but Mainoo has not yet featured in any of Tuchel's squads since he took over at the beginning of 2025, while Shaw has had to fight his way back into the team despite being ever-present for Manchester United this season.
However, Maguire, Mainoo and Shaw have all started every game since Carrick took over in January, and Tuchel acknowledges that has elevated their standing as he plots his squad for this summer's trip to North America.
Tuchel made the trip to West Ham United's London Stadium on Tuesday night expressly to see the triumvirate in action for Manchester United, telling talkSPORT: "I guessed that they were in the starting line-up and I guessed right. That's why I wanted to see them. I wanted to see them live.
"I'm very happy that they are in good form and in good shape because they are back in the picture.
"March gives us the chance to have a last look at players before we need to nominate for our trip to the US. So, yes, they're in the picture and I'm happy because competition is on."
In FourFourTwo's view, it does Tuchel no harm to talk up the value of regular club minutes and club form with the World Cup just a few months away.
It would also behove the England manager to use the March friendlies against Uruguay and Japan as an opportunity to take a final look at some players who are on the fringes of his thoughts at the moment.
However, while we'd expect Shaw to be in the final squad - particularly given the paucity of other English left-back options - we'd be surprised if Maguire or Mainoo were to join him as it stands.
Other centre-back options have established themselves as reliable options since Maguire last made a squad and helped England to go through qualifying without conceding a single goal.
Mainoo meanwhile has a way to go to force his way into a competitive midfield led by after being overtaken by Elliot Anderson and Adam Wharton as options alongside first choice Declan Rice.
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