Many people thought that Jamaal Lascelles and Jonjo Shelvey would get an England call up by Gareth Southgate, but at no point did the name Paul Dummett enter the conversation.
Of course, neither Lascelles or Shelvey got drafted in to the Three Lions squad, but the Chronicle have reported that the England manager is still keeping tabs on the pair, as well as a third Newcastle United player.
The player in question is Paul Dummett.
The left back has two Wales caps to his name, and recently turned down a chance to be a part of Ryan Giggs’ first Welsh squad, but as those caps only came in friendly games, Dummett is still eligible for England duty.
While the 26-year-old has had a fantastic season since returning from injury, there is surely no chance that we will see Dummett in an England shirt any time soon.
Since Southgate became manager of the national side, he has opted for a 3-4-3 formation that really would not accommodate our number three.
Dummett is an old school left back whose primary job is to defend. There is nothing flash about his performances, as he leaves the attacking to the more creative players, instead just solely focusing on stopping his opponents scoring.
MORE NEWCASTLE STORIES
In a 3-4-3 formation, the role of the wing back is to both attack and defend, mainly the former, which is most definitely not Dummett’s strongest asset. The likes of Danny Rose and Ryan Bertrand excel going forwards, while Dummett is more comfortable doing the dirty side of the game, meaning his style of play is not really going to suit Southgate’s system.
Of course, we have seen Dummett play as a centre back in the past, and does have the advantage of being left footed, which is something that a lot of managers desire now when they play three centre backs, but there is just no way that Dummett could be an England centre back.
Southgate has somewhat of a plethora of options at the heart of defence, and considering Jamaal Lascelles cannot get into the England squad himself, something that remains a mystery, there is surely no chance of Dummett getting a crack on the international stage.
While his form has been fantastic, tactics and style of play mean there is no chance of seeing Dummett in an England shirt, no matter how much we all want to see it.
There is one way it could happen though, but we would need to see England revert to a Mike Bassett brand of four four f*****g two.