Troy Deeney claims Thomas Tuchel ‘doesn’t fancy’ Chelsea player after England omission

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Thomas Tuchel has named his latest England squad for the upcoming international break. Troy Deeney was a bit surprised to see one Chelsea player absent from the group, though.

Chelsea host Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday evening before a two-week pause for October’s set of international matches

On Thursday, England announced the 24-man squad that Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel has selected for games against Wales (friendly) and Latvia (World Cup qualifier). Reece James is the sole Chelsea representative in the group.

• Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City)
• Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Jarrel Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham), John Stones (Manchester City)
• Midfielders: Elliott Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (AC Milan), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)
• Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)

James, who has improved his fitness in 2025, appears to have consolidated his spot as England’s starting right-back under Tuchel. Meanwhile, Blues star Cole Palmer is currently sidelined with a groin injury, so he’s a notable absence in the international squad.

Perhaps there will be a different Chelsea player who is disappointed with their omission.

• READ MORE: Chelsea once played so badly that ‘angry’ Thomas Tuchel couldn’t sleep, he stayed up all night to rewatch the game

Troy Deeney expected Trevoh Chalobah to be in England squad

Troy Deeney expressed his surprise that Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah, 26, wasn’t picked by England boss Tuchel for the upcoming matches against Wales and Latvia.

Deeney said via talkSPORT: “I thought Chalobah maybe would be in for a shout. He clearly doesn’t fancy him. Him not being in there and [Jarell] Quansah being in the squad.”

Back in June, Chalobah was included in Tuchel’s England squad, even playing 90 minutes in the friendly defeat against Senegal.

The Chelsea centre-half was left out of the Three Lions camp in September. His World Cup chances have surely taken another hit because he’s missing this month, too.

In fairness, Chalobah’s form since the previous international break has dipped after a promising start to the 2025/26 season.

Even though Chalobah has started every match since the last international window, he won’t feature against Liverpool because of his suspension. Chalobah’s red card against Brighton means he won’t play at home to Liverpool in the league showdown.

The Chelsea headache at centre-back

After October’s international break, it will be intriguing to see who emerges as the starting centre-back partnership at Chelsea under Enzo Maersca.

Blues central defender Levi Colwill is unavailable through his ACL injury, which has caused major issues in the backline.

Chalobah is one of the centre-halves in contention alongside teammates Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Josh Acheampong and Jorrel Hato. Badiashile and Acheampong start in Chelsea’s predicted XI against Liverpool, so there could be a pair of them to deliver big performances and make themselves undroppable.

For Chalobah, he needs to focus on his Chelsea form before worrying about an England recall further down the line.