£45million Newcastle ace to be overlooked for England duty again after Saka withdraws from squad

Gareth Southgate, the man behind some of the most baffling decisions from an England manager in recent memory has outdone himself once again.

Newcastle United's £45million signing from Everton, Anthony Gordon has been one of, if not THE most in-form English players in the Premier League this season which has come off the back of him helping England U21s to the UEFA Under 21's European Championships this summer.

Did I also forget to mention that Gordon picked up the Player of the Tournament gong in said competition, too?

I'm not saying that Anthony Gordon is better than Bukayo Saka here, but the Arsenal winger is currently injured and was injured at the time of Southgate's selection. He was criticised for it during the press conference and tried to defend his decision saying:

"There's another seven days before we play Australia and 10 days before we play Italy."

Serena Taylor via Getty Images

So now that Saka has had to withdraw from the squad because, as Mikel Arteta said weeks ago, he will not be fit enough to feature, Sky Sports are reporting that Southgate will not call up a replacement.

Anthony Gordon was probably champing at the bit when he saw that Saka was going to have to pull out. Surely he's done enough to earn a call-up, even as a last-minute replacement for Bukayo Saka.

While I'm having digs at Southgate, why has Nick Pope fallen out of favour despite keeping five clean sheets in a row? Also, why when the England squad is announced and Pope isn't in it, does he drop a clanger in the very next game as if to justify Southgate's decision? Weird that.

Surely Anthony Gordon has to get his first senior England call this season if he continues performing for Newcastle the way he has been. If not, then it's definitely time for change at England. I mean, we can't go on with seeing Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips called up when they've played but five minutes a piece for the club all season.