England kick off their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia on Sunday, but Gareth Southgate's decision to leave Jack Grealish out of his 26-man squad continues to be debated

Video Loading Video Unavailable

Click to playTap to play

The video will auto-play soon8Cancel Play now

Gallagher makes pitch to start in midfield for England

Gareth Southgate whittled down his provisional England squad for Euro 2024 a week ago, but the debate over Jack Grealish's omission is still raging on.

Despite struggling for form at Manchester City last season, Grealish, 28, was expected to feature prominently for England during this summer's European Championships. Instead, he will be watching the tournament from afar.

Much has been made of Southgate's decision to leave Grealish out of his final 26-man squad for the Euros. And even with England's Group C opener against Serbia on Sunday looming large, the dissenting voices over whether or not Southgate has made the right call look set to continue for some time yet. Here, Mirror Football looks at the background to Grealish's omission...

Grealish has been a regular in the England squad under Southgate in recent years, winning 36 caps for his country. However, just months after saying Grealish was too harsh on himself, Southgate made the decision to leave him out of his squad for the Euros.

"We're blessed with options in attacking areas, all offering something slightly different. [James Maddison] and Jack give us something different as well, so they're tough calls," Southgate explained after unveiling his final 26-man squad. "We've gone over it and over it as staff to try and be fair. We back our decisions but we recognise we could have gone a different route. Both boys are big characters and great to work with."

Grealish's two-word message Join the debate! Do you think Southgate got it wrong on Grealish? Let us know here.

Jack Grealish has yet address his omission from England's squad for Euro 2024 publicly ( Image:

Alongside a picture of him playing for England in the recent win over Bosnia & Herzegovina, Grealish wrote a simple yet powerful caption: "Nothing better".

The real reason for his snub Jamie O'Hara reckons Gareth Southgate has never rated Grealish ( Image:

Speaking to Grosvenor Sport ahead of Sunday's match against Serbia, O'Hara explained: "I don't think Southgate ever really loved Grealish. He never got the call up for England at Aston Villa when he was playing his best football, but Southgate had to put him in when he joined Manchester City and started playing most weeks.

"The problem for Jack is he's been injured and hasn't played as much this season. The fact he hasn't featured much for City alongside his injuries means it's made it easy for Southgate to leave him out, I don't think he's ever admired Jack that much as a player and I reckon he thinks there's better players than him.

"It's a tough call, I felt for Jack because I like him. You need characters in the dressing room - especially when you're away for weeks, you need lads like that. He's a good laugh and a great player. He's won trophies and was a big part of winning the treble, so it's a big call to leave him out for Anthony Gordon and Ebere Eze who haven't won anything."