Why Chelsea have just 2 players in the England squad despite having the best academy in England | OneFootball

After a morning of swirling rumours, Gareth Southgate’s announcement of the England squad is out, and there are two Chelsea players in the mix.

Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer both make the cut after great seasons at club level. How much they will actually play in Germany is a bigger question, as neither has really had the time in England squads needed to change the notoriously conservative Gareth Southgate’s mind.

Rumours this morning held that Levi Colwill had made the cut, and a lot of top sources picked up on it. But it always felt unlikely given how disrupted the second half of his season has been by injury.

We’re gutted to not see Trevoh Chalobah in there, after a superb 4 months since returning from his own injury.

There will still be further cuts made to this group, but it’s hard to see either Gallagher or Palmer being sent home, given they both should see at least some minutes for the team at the tournament.

A sad decline for Blues in the squad

Compared to a few years ago when Chelsea had a large group in the main squad and a ton of young players coming through, this has been a sad decline for the numbers of Blues heading to the tournament.

That’s in part due to injuries and in part due to the sale of so many of our most promising players.

But we will still get to cheer on Gallagher and Palmer, perhaps our two best performers this season, if they get on the pitch for the Three Lions.

Let’s hope that by the time the next tournament comes around, we’re in better shape and can get back to having 5 or 6 Chelsea players in the mix. There are certainly plenty in the England age group teams who can push on by the time we reach 2026.