How Gareth Southgate broke up England’s ‘Avengers’: Axeing Jack Grealish and James Maddison means WhatsApp group clique are out of the Euros – and could holiday together instead!

The omission of James Maddison and Jack Grealish from Euro 2024 means there will be no involvement in the England squad for ‘The Avengers’ WhatsApp group.

The Manchester City and Tottenham midfielders were two of the most surprising players for Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate, who named his 26-man squad for the tournament in Germany on Thursday.

Harry Maguire, Jarrad Branthwaite and Curtis Jones were also among the nominees, with players including Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton set to compete in their first major international tournaments.

However, there will be no such participation for ‘The Avengers’, a WhatsApp group featuring a number of former England players such as Maddison, Grealish, Dele Alli and Ben Chilwell.

Maddison said EA Sports of the group, whose latest members are Ross Barkley and John McGinn, although all Englishmen in the group have been dropped before the tournament, with McGinn, who plays for Scotland, the only man set to feature.

Maddison revealed that a number of former England players are in a group chat on the social media app

Over the years, committed players have performed an ‘A’ celebration, a signal to the group chat

“We have a little group chat called The Avengers,” Maddison admitted to former Hull midfielder David Meyler.

What followed was several members of the group performing an ‘A’ celebration with their fingers on the field, which is implied to be related to the alliance.

According to reports, the celebration was in honor of Chelsea supporter Andrew ‘Woody’ Wood following his death in early October.

“He was obviously my best friend here and welcomed me to the club [Leicester]I knew him anyway through England Under-21s and the England set-up,” Maddison previously said of Chilwell.

‘You just have that one guy who’s like your best friend who you’ll have a cup of coffee with, you’ll see it outside of football and stuff and that was Chilly [Chilwell] for me. We have built a great relationship both on and off the field.”

When asked who is the most vocal in the group chat, Grealish shared UMM’s assumptions in 2021: ‘Me or Madders. At that point, (Maddison) is in the group chat 24/7. Someone writes in it and then bam, it’s done immediately. Constantly in it.

“Then there are people like Chilly, he was online and didn’t read it.”

Grealish, who cost Manchester City £100million when he joined from Aston Villa in 2021, also revealed that a winter trip to Dubai sparked the Avengers group chat that brought the promising midfielders together despite their different club alliances.

Ben Chilwell (left) is also included in the chat and is good friends with the likes of Grealish

Maddison spoke about his close friendship with Chilwell from their days together at Leicester

Chilwell, who also missed the squad after an injury-riddled season, has also performed an ‘A’ with his hands

On how the group started, he said: “It was when we went to Dubai during winter break last year. Have you seen the movie Avengers? I didn’t do that. But that’s like a lot of people or something, a group?

‘I didn’t even know that [the Avengers film is an elite group of individuals]. I don’t even know who put it together.’

The group could now go on holiday together again, after having gone abroad a number of times in the past.

Although Grealish and Maddison failed to make the squad when the squad was reduced from 33 players to 26, none of the other players were included in the preliminary 33-man squad announced last month.

Chilwell, who featured for England in the last group of internationals in March, has made 21 appearances for his country but has not started a Premier League game since March in an injury-plagued season.

Alli, who is also injured, has fallen far down the pecking order as he tries to rebuild his career at Everton but has targeted a return to England ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Barkley was mentioned as a possible call-up to the squad after an impressive season with Luton, but has not played for England since 2019.

Maddison and Grealish have been friends for a number of years, but will not be present at the European Championship

England will no longer see a link between old friends Grealish and Chilwell this summer

Grealish is said to have been ‘stunned and upset’ by his shock exclusion from the Three Lions squad on Thursday

The decision to drop Grealish has drawn mixed reactions from fans on social media The TelegraphThere was even some consternation among the English camp.

The outlet reported that a player spoke with Southgate in the immediate aftermath to try to understand the call and explain it to teammates. Others are said to have rallied around the 28-year-old.

It is also suggested that Grealish was ‘stunned and upset’, although there is no suggestion that the decision sparked an argument or confrontation.

Aware that his place was in jeopardy, Grealish had his holiday cut short to increase his chances of reaching Germany. The players of Man City and Man United were not expected to report until early this week after their participation in the FA Cup final on May 25.