Man Utd teenager and Arsenal hitman among potential international debutants
With the regular league seasons over, attention now turns to the June internationals... yes, more football! As such, we pick out 10 players hoping to earn their first international cap this month, with stars from Manchester United, Newcastle, Chelsea and Arsenal all in line to make their international bow.
Back in March, Houssem Aouar made the decision to switch allegiance from France to Algeria, and is set to make his international debut for the Fennec Foxes this week. Aouar, who has long been linked with a move to the Premier League, has instead left Lyon for Italian side Roma on a free to end a 14-year stay with OL. The 24-year-old struggled for minutes in Ligue 1 last season, making just six starts for the French side, but is a quality option for head coach Djamel Belmadi in the Algeria midfield as they seek to maintain their dominance in their AFCON qualification group.
Eberechi Eze would have already received a first England call up had he not sustained an Achilles injury in 2021, and it's fair to say his Three Lions inclusion for the June internationals is fully deserved. The 24-year-old ended the 2022/23 Premier League season with 10 goals and four assists to his name, and completed more dribbles (71) than any other player in England's top tier. Minutes in upcoming meetings with Malta and North Macedonia would certainly be deserved.
Joelinton sat out the last couple of league games of the season owing to injury, but he did more than enough for Newcastle over the course of the campaign to warrant a Brazil call. Reinvented as a box-to-box midfielder, Joelinton completed the 11th most dribbles (53) in the Premier League last season, and ranked 21st for total tackles (70). He'll add additional drive and bite to the Selecao midfield, that's for sure.
Alejandro Garnacho - Argentina
An ankle injury sustained in March limited Alejandro Garnacho's impact for Manchester United in the final weeks of the season, yet the Argentine still enjoyed a memorable campaign for the Carabao Cup winners. Garnacho scored five and provided four assists for Erik ten Hag's side last season, including two assists off the bench to help United to a 4-2 win over Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup to kickstart their successful pursuit of domestic glory. With Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria both 35 years of age, head coach Lionel Scaloni is preparing for the future, with 18-year-old Garnacho one for the next generation for Argentina.
Injuries mean Wesley Fofana is yet to earn a first France cap, but the 22-year-old will be hoping to capitalise on absent compatriots to make his first appearance for Didier Deschamps' men. William Saliba, Lucas Hernandez and Presenel Kimpembe are all sidelined for one reason or another, while Raphael Varane's retirement from international football has opened the door for Fofana. The Chelsea man earned a first call up in March, only to be forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury. He'll hope to feature for Les Bleus this month, though will be aware of hefty competition for a place in the side.
Interest in Folarin Balogun's services are going to be high this summer. The youngster is unlikely to return to Arsenal to sit on the bench having finished the campaign with 21 goals for Ligue 1 side Reims. This will be a key summer for Balogun, who has elected to represent USA, which is a huge boost for the Stars and Stripes. A key weakness of USA's of late has been a lack of player to put the ball in the back of the net, so the 21-year-old's decision to switch allegiance is massive.
Netherlands have their UEFA Nations League playoff fixture against Croatia this week, and it might be that Ronald Koeman hands key first minutes to PSV midfielder Joey Veerman. The 24-year-old ended the regular Eredivisie season with 10 assists to his name, the fourth most in the division, while only Dusan Tadic (163) made more key passes than the Dutchman (101). Veerman was called up to the Dutch squad back in March, but was forced to withdraw due to illness, so he'll be eager to make up for lost time if utilised this month.
Robin Le Normand has followed the same route in international football as Aymeric Laporte. Le Normand, like Laporte, was born in France, but switched allegiance to Spain earlier this year and after an impressive season for Real Sociedad, it's a deserved call up for the centre-back. At 26 years of age, he is the youngest defender in the Spain squad this month, yet his distribution is a key reason behind his inclusion in Luis de la Fuente's side. Indeed, Le Normand has developed a statistically calculated WhoScored strength of 'passing', and his pass success rate of 88.2% ranked well in Spain's top tier last term.
Dion Beljo played a bit part role for Augsburg last season, starting just 16 league games, and while he only scored three goals, they were vital strikes for the German side. Indeed, those three strikes secured Augsburg an additional five points, which given they avoided finishing in the relegation playoff spot by a single point, proved crucial for Enrico Maassen's men. Croatia don't have an abundance of quality centre forwards on the books at present, so the towering 21-year-old will certainly fancy his chances of making an impact this week.
With Kevin De Bruyne likely to pull out of the Belgium squad this month having been forced off in the first half of Saturday's Champions League final win over Inter, Mike Tresor may earn his first Red Devils cap in the very near future. The 24-year-old was a creative machine in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League last season, returning a whopping 24 assists. 109 key passes was far and away the most the division and it could be that supporters see Tresor makes his first Belgium appearance under Domenico Tedesco later this month.
