In what should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that even loosely followed European football, Harry Kane has been called up to Gareth Southgate’s provisional England squad for this summer’s European Championships. Barring any sort of catastrophic injury concern between now and the start of the tournament, the Bayern Munich number 9 will captain the Three Lions in their pursuit of a first piece of major silverware since 1966.
Kane was selected along with fellow strikers Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), and Ivan Toney (Brentford FC), who have all enjoyed successful seasons in their own rights with their respective clubs. Fellow English compatriot and former Tottenham Hotspur teammate Eric Dier did not make the cut for Southgate’s provisional squad despite having a successful second half of the season for the Rekordmeister, quickly working his way into Thomas Tuchel’s preferred starting center back pairing alongside Matthijs De Ligt.
Kane was unfortunate to have missed out on Bayern’s last two Bundesliga matches of the season through a back injury he sustained during the 2-1 loss at Real Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals earlier this month. He missed the 2-0 win over VfL Wolfsburg and the 4-2 loss at TSG Hoffenheim.
Despite Kane’s back issue, Southgate is confident his star striker and skipper will be absolutely ready to go for the start of the Euros. “He’s obviously missed the end of the season with a back issue. But our understanding from our end and from the medical team at Bayern is that it should not be a problem once we get back into training,” the England manager explained (via @iMiaSanMia).
At the time of his substitution late on in the second half of the loss against Real Madrid, many fans and pundits alike were quick to jump on Tuchel’s case for taking off his star striker, but it was revealed after the match that Kane’s back had seized up indignantly, forcing his substitution. When it occurred, he was replaced by Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in the 85th minute of play.
Before opening up their group play at the Euros against Serbia, England will have friendlies against the likes of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland, but it remains unclear at this juncture how much of a part Kane will play in either or both of said friendlies.