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Jack Grealish makes initial England U21 Euro squad

By Samantha Richards

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - MARCH 17 : Jack Grealish of Aston Villa in action during a training session at the club's training ground at Bodymoor Heath on March 17, 2017 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - MARCH 17 : Jack Grealish of Aston Villa in action during a training session at the club's training ground at Bodymoor Heath on March 17, 2017 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images) /
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Jack Grealish was named in Aidy Boothroyd’s provisional 28-man squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The Aston Villa attacking midfielder is looking to make the final cut ahead of the tournament in Poland.

England U-21 manager Aidy Boothroyd will have to cut five players from his provisional squad. The tournament, which begins June 16th, permits a 23-man squad, the standard of which three must be goalkeepers.

Here’s the entire squad called in:

Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Manchester City), Jonathan Mitchell (Derby County), Jordan Pickford (Sunderland), Joe Wildsmith (Sheffield Wednesday).

Defenders: Calum Chambers (Arsenal), Ben Chilwell (Leicester City), Kortney Hause (Wolves), Rob Holding (Arsenal), Mason Holgate (Everton), Dominic Iorfa (Wolves), Alfie Mawson (Swansea City), Sam McQueen (Southhampton), Jack Stephens (Southhampton), Matt Targett (Southhampton).

Midfielders: Lewis Baker (Chelsea), Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Will Hughes (Derby County), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), John Swift (Reading), James Ward-Prowse (Southhampton).

Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Chelsea), Izzy Brown (Chelsea), Demarai Gray (Leicester City), Jacob Murphy (Norwich City), Nathan Redmond (Southampton), Patrick Roberts (Manchester City), Cauley Woodrow (Fulham).

Next: Aston Villa stars set for international tournaments this summer

This is a loaded team filled with Premier League and Championship starters. Yet, it pales in comparison to the squads Spain and Portugal are bringing to the tournament.

Jack Grealish might worry about not making the final cut given the number of places. However, he was highly involved in last year’s qualifying and friendlies, routinely featuring for the Under-21s.

My best guess at the five cuts would be: Wildsmith, Hause, one of McQueen or Targett, John Swift, and Izzy Brown.

The squad is gathering for five days of training before Boothroyd makes the final cuts later this month. They will then link-up for the tournament on June 7th.

England was drawn into Group A alongside hosts Poland, Sweden, and Slovakia. Boothroyd could do a lot worse than a starting lineup of: Pickford; Iorfa, Mawson, Holding, Chilwell; Hughes, Loftus-Cheek; Redmond, Ward-Prowse, Grealish; Abraham.

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