Three England players heading for Chelsea summer exit

Jacque Talbot

• Updated: 16 Mar 2023 20:50 GMT
• 3 min read

England manager Gareth Southgate nearly called up three Chelsea players who are reportedly heading for a summer exit.

Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, and Mason Mount have all been rumoured to be leaving the west London side in the summer, but they were nearly all selected by Gareth Southgate ahead of the European Championship qualifiers, Sterling missing the games against Italy and Ukraine through injury.

But the trio are not the only members of the Blues squad who are thought to be in their last few months at Chelsea but called up to their respective national sides. Kai Havertz, who has enjoyed something of a revival in recent games, has been selected by Germany, while Mateo Kovacic has been called up to represent Croatia.

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Sterling - who missed Chelsea's win over Leicester last weekend despite picking up some form in recent games - featured in three of England's five matches at the World Cup, playing for the Three Lions in December.

The former Manchester City star was not involved in the last-16 win over Senegal, though, after reports emerged that there was a break-in at his house.

Chelsea have a number of players on high wages who they are believed to be wanting to offload in the upcoming summer market.

It’s thought that they would be able to recoup sizeable fees for some of the names, including Mount, who’s liked by Liverpool and Manchester United.

England's 25-man squad

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale

Defenders: Ben Chilwell, Eric Dier, Marc Guehi, Reece James, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker

Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, James Maddison, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice

Forwards: Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney