Lee Carsley 'not disappointed' to lose key striker Liam Delap for Under-21 Euros campaign

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·6 de junio de 2025

Lee Carsley 'not disappointed' to lose key striker Liam Delap for Under-21 Euros campaign

The England head coach said he had prepared for players to prioritise the Club World Cup

England Under-21 boss Lee Carsley insists he is not disappointed that Liam Delap will be playing for Chelsea at the Club World Cup, instead of featuring at the European Championships.

Delap had been due to be part of England’s squad for the Under-21 tournament in Slovakia, but he was left out of the final 23-man group on Friday morning.

The striker signed for Chelsea earlier this week, joining from Ipswich for £30million, and will now be part of the Blues’ squad for the Club World Cup.

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It has left Carsley without the man who was going to lead the line for England, however he is not frustrated by the situation.

“I am definitely not disappointed,” he said. “I am delighted for Liam and his family.“I think it is a brilliant thing for an English centre-forward to play in the Premier League at such a prestigious club like Chelsea.

“Hopefully he will do really well there and push for the senior team. We will move on, we moved on quite quickly.

“I think we have always known that two or three of the players could move to clubs that were playing in the Club World Cup and we have been preparing for this for a while.

“I think the Club World Cup hasn’t come out of the blue. We have been preparing for this competition now for two years, knowing that the Club World Cup was always in the background.

“I think what it has done is made sure we were adaptable and able to monitor a lot more players, knowing that this potentially could come into play.

“So it is not frustrating one bit and I definitely still see the importance of some of our players that will play in that competition. It’s a brilliant thing for them to do.

“We have to be creative with our team selection and the way we try and get players into the team. Obviously, trying to play to the players’ strengths, and I think we can do that.”

There had been doubts over Jobe Bellingham’s participation at this summer’s Euros, but he has been named in the squad.

The Sunderland midfielder is the subject of interest from Borussia Dortmund, who - like Chelsea - will also play in the Club World Cup this month.

“Well, Jobe is an important part of the squad,” said Carsley. “I think the FIFA window closes on June 10, so we just have to make sure that we are flexible.

“It’s similar to what we have done with all of the players, we are here to support them. We help them as much as we can.

“Jobe, as I say, is an important part of our squad and will be travelling with us.”