England’s Euro 2024 squad LIVE: Latest news as James Maddison leaves camp and Liverpool duo Quansah and Jones cut

Could the answer to who plays next to Declan Rice be Trent Alexander-Arnold?

Alexander-Arnold doesn’t seem like a compromise in the No 6 role; he feels like a discovery. His long-term position has often been debated but rarely has the holding role been proffered with any serious conviction. It should be: from there the game unfolds in front of him like a piece of paper, and he is free to draw the pictures others can’t see.

He can drop between the centre-backs and dictate. He can move forwards and link play, backing up attacks around the edge of the box. And maybe it even suits Alexander-Arnold’s defensive game, by removing him from back-post duels and reinventing him as more of a central space-plugger. Against Bosnia he made a couple of wily interceptions, reading the situation before it happened.

Lewis Dunk, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw are all missing today’s team training session to work on individual programmes. The rest of the England squad will take part in a brief open training session with media present at Tottenham’s training centre, before continuing their preparation for tomorrow’s game against Iceland privately.

One thing’s for sure, England have a midfield muddle to solve. Gareth Southgate admits he has a dilemma in who to choose alongside Declan Rice in England’s midfield at Euro 2024, and here we explore some of the options:

Harry Maguire is emerging as a significant injury doubt for the Euros as he continues to struggle with a calf injury, the Daily Mail is reporting. The fitness concerns around Maguire and Shaw would explain why there is such a large pool of defenders in this training squad.

Jarell Quansah is expected to miss out, but Lewis Dunk, Ezri Konsa, Joe Gomez, Jarrad Branthwaite and Marc Guehi are all competing to join more established names like John Stones, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier in the final squad.

And here was senior football correspondent Richard Jolly’s verdict from St James’ Park, on a night when fringe players didn’t necessarily grab their chance:

He has scored in the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Carabao Cup, the Community Shield, the European Super Cup and now for England. If the caveat that his maiden strike in his country’s colours was from the penalty spot, plenty of his goals are, but whatever the stage, they seem taken with nonchalant confidence.

A friendly win over Bosnia and Herzegovina may cement Palmer’s place in Gareth Southgate’s final 26-man squad; not merely for his penalty-taking prowess – though that could prove handy in Germany – but a performance where he had come to look like England’s likeliest source of a goal even before he scored one. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Kane added more as Bosnia and Herzegovina were beaten; the Liverpool vice-captain with a classy volley, the England captain with a predatory finish. An illustration of Alexander-Arnold’s quality may be timely, a reminder of Kane’s ability to pilfer goals needless.

So how did England’s fringe players get on against Bosnia, in what was realistically their final chance to impress before the Euros?

Sonia Twigg rated their performances on audition night at St James’ Park:

Asked last week if Grealish was in danger of missing out, Southgate said: “I don’t think we’re defining that just yet. I think we know where we’re likely to be. I haven’t talked to him specifically about the cup final. But he has been really bright and he loves being here.

“This season he has not played as much. I’m sure he would have liked that to be different but we know the qualities he can bring. He is a player we enjoy working with.”

The West Ham forward is “trying to impress” when given a chance, and said: “I’m a really family-orientated man – my mum, my dad, my brothers, my sisters, everyone. I had my brother and dad here (at the game). Hereford to Newcastle’s not an hour away, it’s a long old way.

“For me, family is the most important thing and of course it gives you that drive. From where I’ve come from to go to a major tournament would be the pinnacle, but of course there’s a lot that goes into that to get to that stage.

“But for me, when I’m here I’m learning and trying to impress when I get that opportunity.”

He added: “The striking options we have here are elite, you look at Harry (Kane), Ollie (Watkins), Ivan (Toney) and so on. I know my position, I played out on the wing all my career, maybe that’s a good thing because competition with strikers here is probably one of the best.”

Bowen had another important campaign for the Hammers in the Premier League this season, scoring 16 goals in 34 appearances as they finished ninth, and he is determined to keep playing his own game as he aims to secure a ticket to Germany.

“Speaking personally, I’m here on merit for what I’ve done since I’ve been at West Ham,” he told Sky Sports. “It’s about finding that balance where, yes you want to impress, but you also don’t want to do too much, you want to play your own game that got you here in the first place.

“For me it’s staying on that path and staying with that mindset.”

Jarrod Bowen admits being involved in a major tournament with England would be “the pinnacle” of his career as he waits to discover if he will be part of Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad for the European Championship.

Boss Southgate has until midnight on Friday to name his final squad for the tournament in Germany and England’s final preparations got under way with a 3-0 win against Bosnia and Herzegovina in a warm-up clash at St James’ Park on Monday night.

They have one more friendly against Iceland on Friday before kicking off their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on June 16.

Southgate gave a host of players the opportunity to lay claim for a spot in Monday’s clash, including Bowen, who started the game as his father and brother watched on in the crowd.

The England manager explained: “He will be involved in the game on Friday but I have got to get Harry Kane right so sometimes the priorities of what’s required and what you would like to see as well, you can’t achieve all of those objectives. Simple as that.”

Southgate confirmed all his substitutions on Monday were planned, so it was never his intention to use Toney. “Some had had enough minutes, some we want to go again on Friday so we needed to get them off so they weren’t too fatigued,” he said. “There were various things we wanted to see but also changes that were planned.”

Toney scored on his last international appearance, March’s 2-2 draw with Belgium, but finished the season without a goal in his last 12 appearances for Brentford.

While the expansion of the Euro 2026 squads to 26 players gave Southgate the option of taking three specialist strikers, it is possible he will only pick two, augmented by wingers who have also played in the middle, such as Jarrod Bowen, Phil Foden and Anthony Gordon.