With the Premier League season behind us, many football fans will be anticipating next month’s European Championships. Premier League stars such as Declan Rice, Virgil Van Dijk and Phil Foden will be representing their countries but there are some players who will be watching from home like the rest of us.

Brennan Johnson - Wales

Brennan Johnson.

35 league games
5 goals
10 assists

Those numbers are so encouraging. He is young, tons of room for improvement both individually and in the system. #coys #thfc pic.twitter.com/JO8YFI43wl

— Mikey (@ProudN17) May 19, 2024

Brennan Johnson’s move to Tottenham last summer was an expensive one and some Spurs fans remain unconvinced by the Welshman. He commanded a fee of close to £50million but has only managed to score five league goals in a rather hit and miss season for both the club and Johnson himself. In Wales’ Euro Qualification campaign, Johnson only managed one goal, in a 4-1 win against Finland. Unfortunately for the Dragons, they lost in the playoff final against Poland, meaning that Johnson will have to simply be a spectator this summer, something he has gotten used to since his move to North London.

Alexander Isak - Sweden

Alexander Isak is the second player from Sweden to score 20 goals this season. Viktor Gyökeres is the other player and he has scored 36 goals this season. pic.twitter.com/8HoYTvkIG0

— 🇸🇪 (@SwedeStats) April 13, 2024

Completely opposite to Brennan Johnson’s 2023/24 season, we have Newcastle’s main man Alexander Isak. The striker has provided 21 Premier League goals this season, including four in two games against West Ham. He cost Newcastle around £70million when they signed him in 2022 and he has been crucial to their success over the past two seasons. Like Johnson, Isak was only able to score once during Sweden’s Euro Qualification campaign, in a 5-0 victory over Estonia. Their campaign was poor and failed to qualify in a group containing Belgium, Austria, Azerbaijan and Estonia, meaning that they will miss out on the Euros for the first time since 1996.

Martin Odegaard - Norway

Martin Odegaard created more chances from open play than any other player in the Premier League this season (88). #Arsenal have had some incredible performers this season, but the skipper is the real standout. A brilliant season in every department. #AFC pic.twitter.com/6XOFMtujJv

— Adam Keys (@adamkeys_) May 22, 2024

Arsenal and Norway captain, Martin Odegaard is the first of two inclusions from the Scandinavian nation (I think you can guess the other) and the third player in a row to have scored just one goal in Euro Qualifying. Odegaard’s also came in a victory, against Georgia. The 25-year-old has got eight goals and 10 assists in the league this season, proving to be pivotal to the way the Gunners play. He joined the North London side for £35million in 2021 after a successful loan spell at the club and has been an ever present technician in Mikel Arteta’s midfield. Unfortunately for him, he will be forced to watch his teammates represent their countries at the Euros this summer as Norway failed to qualify.

Erling Haaland - Norway

Very honoured to win the Golden boot award again! 👟🤩 Thank you for your endless support 🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/qzBcM0rRCs

— Erling Haaland (@ErlingHaaland) May 20, 2024

The second Norwegian player on the list, Erling Haaland is one of, if not, the best player in the world. He has won the Premier League golden boot for the second season running and is a force to be reckoned with in an outstanding Manchester City side. The 23-year-old also has 27 goals in just 31 caps for Norway, making him their second all-time goalscorer and will definitely take first within a few years. Like Odegaard though, Haaland will not be going to the Euros with Norway, as they finished third in their qualification group behind Spain and Scotland. Haaland scored six goals in the qualification campaign but was unable to lead his side to just their fifth ever major tournament.

Ben White - England

🚨 England coach Southgate: “We had a call from Arsenal last week to say that Ben White didn’t want to be considered for England squads”. pic.twitter.com/tZbqsF1H5i

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 14, 2024

I thought about including players such and Evan Ferguson for Ireland or Kostas Tsimikas for Greece in this list, but I couldn’t ignore the fact that one of the best right-backs in the Premier League this season will not be going to the Euros, not because his team didn’t qualify, but because he has chosen to reject his recent call ups. Ben White has been outstanding for Arsenal this season but will not be heading to Germany with the Three Lions. White pulled out of the 2022 World Cup squad for ‘personal reasons’ but there is a claim that he and Steve Holland, Gareth Southgate’s assistant, were involved in a spat on the training pitch which ultimately resulted in White asking to be allowed to leave the camp. Either way, the only way he’ll be donning an England shirt this summer will be to cheer on the Three Lions from home like the rest of us - if he decides to watch that is.