Gareth Southgate has claimed the Nations League Finals came too soon for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to earn an England recall but insisted “he’s very much in our thoughts for next season”.
The 25-year-old has not featured for England since starting a 1-1 friendly draw against Italy in March 2018, just over a month before he suffered medial and cruciate knee ligament damage during Liverpool’s Champions League semi-final win over Roma.
Oxlade-Chamberlain has spent almost the entirety of this season in recovery – and suffered minor hamstring injury setbacks as he rebuilt his fitness - but made his long-awaited return in two substitute appearances totalling 19 minutes against Huddersfield and Wolves.
The former Gunners midfielder is now hopeful of playing a role in Liverpool’s Champions League Final against Tottenham but despite his availability and the need to select an expanded England squad to guard against the potential for injury setbacks elsewhere, Southgate felt Oxlade-Chamberlain needed more game-time at club level.
“I think when you are recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury, you need a period of time to get into more starts, more 90 minutes under his belt and it’s an important thing for him that he’s managed to get some minutes at Liverpool,” he said.
“But I think a good pre-season… because what’s happened with him, a couple of minor hamstring injuries, is classic when you’ve been out with a long-term injury. We shouldn’t be risking him in our games at this stage of his recovery from a serious injury. But he’s very much in our thoughts for next season.”
England face the Netherlands in the Nations League semi-finals on June 6, the same day Portugal play Switzerland.
