Wan-Bissaka dealt damning omission from England right-back pecking order

Even after making steady improvements with Manchester United there is still no place in the England squad for Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The Three Lions are well-stacked in that position in truth, but it's not often a first-team regular for Manchester United falls short for England. In fact, only Joao Cancelo has a better WhoScored rating than Wan-Bissaka of all right-backs in the Premier League this season.

What's most damning is the 23-year-old doesn't appear close to breaking into Gareth Southgate's plans. The England manager has shown he is ready to come down hard on underperforming players with Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold also absent from his squad for England's World Cup qualifiers later this month.

When discussing Alexander-Arnold's absence, Southgate namechecked a whole load of right-backs on his radar but Wan-Bissaka didn't get a mention. "We've got others playing well in that position, [Matty] Cash at Aston Villa, [Luke] Ayling at Leeds. Two very good right-backs in the U21s," Southgate is quoted as saying in his press conference on Thursday.

Wan-Bissaka is regarded as England's best full-back defending one-on-one situations and has been for some time. His tackle success rate is 88.5% in the Premier League this season and has never dropped lower than 85% since breaking into the Crystal Palace first-team in 2017/18. But Southgate has clearly had reservations about Wan-Bissaka for some time, as he has done with Alexander-Arnold.

The England manager has previously discussed the importance of communication at the back and how vital it is for full-backs to defend crosses from the opposing flank. They are arguably Wan-Bissaka's biggest weaknesses when defending and in part explains why he continues to miss out for England.

Wan-Bissaka did actually earn his first senior England call-up shortly after his move from Palace to United in August 2019 only to then pull-out injured through injury. Southgate hasn't considered him since and now remarkably appears 10th choice in the pecking order, with Championship right-back Max Aarons even ahead of the 23-year-old.

Given Wan-Bissaka's relatively limited offensive output, the United defender isn't necessarily a massive miss for England but it seems remarkable to think someone with his talents could be 10th choice in his position. Wan-Bissaka isn't a complete outsider, either. He has represented England at various youth levels and has come through the system. The FA will know him well, including Southgate who is well invested in the organisation. Eligible to represent DR Congo, however, it wouldn't be at all surprising if Wan-Bissaka gives up on representing England following Southgate's latest burn.