Forgotten England star hoping Gareth Southgate considers recall for Euro 2024

Ross Barkley has admitted he hopes to earn a spot in England's Euro 2024 squad as a result of his resurgence with Luton Town.

Prior to his switch last summer, Barkley had endured a challenging few seasons which had seen him fall out of favour at Chelsea and released on a free transfer to French side Nice, where he started just nine Ligue 1 games.

His move to Luton received little fanfare but Barkley, now 30, has enjoyed an outstanding campaign in a deeper role. Many have urged Gareth Southgate to recall the midfielder to his England squad for the first time since 2019, while Barkley has even been linked with a sensational transfer to Manchester United.

While Barkley admits competition for minutes in England's midfield is enormous, he insisted he has shown his worth to the Three Lions again this season.

"Why not?" he told BBC Sport of a recall. "I feel like I'm a much better player now than I was when I was younger.

"I'm not going to lie, it's in the back of my mind, but I know there's a lot of competition for places in the England squad.

"I do back myself. I believe I can add something to the squad. I believe the lower midfield role for me, it's perfect for me now. I have a better understanding of the game. I can take risks, create assists and defensively I'm much more disciplined now."

Barkley added that he his deeper role at Luton wasn't planned, but is one he's familiar with playing having spent time there as a youngster.

"Coming to Luton, my intentions were not playing this role," he revealed. "But because of certain injuries, I've filled in at that role and it's worked out so well for me. I knew I could play in that position, but sometimes all it takes is a manager to trust you in a certain role.

"When I was younger, I was more of a holding midfielder, making tackles and similar to how I'm playing now but still taking some risks.

"Then once I broke my leg and came back, I had no confidence in tackling or leaving my leg in for challenges. It took me a couple of years because every time I saw someone go in for a 50-50, I thought someone could have broken their leg.

"Of course it affected me mentally, so I got moved further forward into more attacking positions because my decision-making when I was younger wasn't as good as it is now. That comes with experience."

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