Despite making a positive start to the season, Jadon Sancho was not called up by England manager Gareth Southgate for upcoming UEFA Nations League action.
The Manchester United winger, who had two goals in seven club matches, did not feature for the Three Lions since starting in a 5-0 win over Andora last October.
Meanwhile, his club team-mates Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw made the cut despite their limited game time under new manager Erik ten Hag.
His other club team-mate, Marcus Rashford, missed out through injury, allowing Ivan Toney to earn his first national call-up.
With five goals in six Premier League appearances, the Brentford forward was only behind Manchester City's Erling Haaland (10) and Fulham frontman Aleksandar Mitrovic (6) in the Golden Boot race.
13 - During 2022, only Harry Kane (18) and Son Heung-min (15) have more Premier League goals than @ivantoney24 (13). Toney could become only the third @BrentfordFC player to play for England, after Billy Scott in 1936 and Leslie Smith in 1939 (both one cap). Buzzing. pic.twitter.com/sUoli1wbXt
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 15, 2022
Although Sancho would not be playing in England's final international action before the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Southgate alluded to his potential involvement in Qatar.
"This is a bigger than normal squad and part of the rationale is that we are very close to a World Cup and we feel, although our results were disappointing in the summer, we have picked on the basis of form and capability over a long period," said Southgate.
"There were certain players we wanted to keep involved this time, but that said it doesn’t mean that this is the end for some of the others who aren’t involved."
Gareth Southgate has named a 28-man squad for our #ThreeLions' upcoming games against Italy and Germany:
— England (@England) September 15, 2022
England, who are already out of contention to qualify for the Nations League Finals, face Italy and Germany in their final League A matches to avoid relegation to League B.
England squad in full
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Nottingham Forest), Nick Pope (Newcastle United), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Everton, loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Declan Rice (West Ham United), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)
Forwards: Tammy Abraham (AS Roma), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Ivan Toney (Brentford)
