Still no place in National squad for £40m Newcastle man as captain gets the nod again

After this weekend's round of fixtures the Premier League goes on a break for international coaches to put their teams through their paces.

Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon and Nick Pope made the cut for Lee Carsley's England side with Tino Livramento missing out after being called up last time and not used by the England boss in any capacity.

Alexander Isak will miss Sweden's two Nations League games through injury but Emil Krafth keeps his place.

One man who is almost guaranteed an international call up is Newcastle's team captain, Bruno Guimaraes.

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Joelinton has been snubbed by Dorival Junior yet again

The dynamic midfielder has been a mainstay in the Brazil squad as they've chopped and changed managers over the past couple of years.

However, his fellow Newcastle teammate Joelinton, who received his first international cap in 2023, going on to earn five caps overall before missing out through injury, has not managed to earn his spot back under new coach Dorival Júnior.

The £40 million former Hoffenheim man deserved his call-up for his country in 2023 after completely transforming his game from struggling striker to powerful box-to-box midfielder. Given Brazil's current struggles, it's strange that they feel they don't need Joelinton to tighten things up for them.

It's nice to see our lads called up for their country but ...

Given that we despise these mid-season international breaks, especially when the games have very little meaning, we're often torn on how we feel about seeing our players being snubbed.

On one hand it's always good to see your team stacked with international-quality players, but by not being involved in meaningless games, the chances of picking up an injury are decreased.

Surely there's nothing more annoying for managers than having one of their players being put out of action for two months for taking part in a chuffing Nations League game or international friendly.