Jamie Carragher believes Gareth Southgate has made a costly mistake with his England squad selection.

Jamie Carragher has slammed one particular decision Gareth Southgate has made regarding his Euro 2024 squad.

The England boss initially named 33 players in a provisional squad but needed to cut seven players ahead of the deadline on the Friday June 7.

Prior to Southgate making the officially announcement, many of the absentees became known following reports from a number of respected journalists

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James Maddison was the first player reported to miss out and he posted a lengthy statement where he said he was “devastated”.

It was then revealed that Curtis Jones, James Trafford, Harry Maguire, Jack Grealish, Jarell Quansah and Jarrad Branthwaite had all been axed.

Southgate had plenty of tough calls to make, with Maguire left out after struggling to recover from an injury.

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It means John Stones, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi, Joe Gomez and Lewis Dunk are England’s centre-back options.

But the decision to not take Branthwaite after a sublime breakthrough season with Everton has irked many.

Image: Getty

Former England defender Carragher is among those who believes the 21-year-old should have been on the plane.

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He went as far as calling Branthwaite England’s “present and future”.

Taking to X, Carragher wrote: “Lots of bigger names than Jarrad Branthwaite have missed out on the @England squad, but he should’ve been picked to go to @EURO2024. He’s England’s present & future.”

Branthwaite played 35 times in the Premier League last term and won the Players’ Player of the Season award at Everton.

Image: Getty

The Carlisle United academy product was handed his senior England debut in the 3-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina at St James’ Park, coming on as a substitute for Guehi in the 62nd minute.

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England take on Iceland in their final friendly at Wembley on Friday, before they face Serbia in their Euro 2024 opener on 16 June in Gelsenkirchen.