A host of Norwich City players have been called up by England’s Under-21s for their upcoming European Championship qualifiers - and join the ever-growing list of Canaries players who will miss the first competitive game of the season against Luton Town.
Max Aarons, Ben Godfrey, Todd Cantwell and Tottenham Hotspur loanee Oliver Skipp have been named in Aidy Boothroyd’s squad for games against Kosovo and Austria during the upcoming international break.
City new boy Kieran Dowell was also available for selection after impressing at Wigan Athletic but hasn’t been named in Boothroyd’s squad for the two games.
Both fixtures will take place abroad - with the UK government granting elite sport teams special dispensation to form bio-secure team bubbles and bypass the current guidelines on quarantine.
The Young Lions opening fixture against Kosovo will take place on Friday, September 4 (6pm UK) with the second seeing England face Austria at the Keine Sorgen Arena - that game will take on Tuesday, September 8 (7.30pm UK).
The quartet become the latest names to be ruled out of the Canaries Carabao Cup first-round tie against Luton Town on Saturday, September 5.
They join Tim Krul, Michael McGovern, Kenny McLean, Jamal Lewis, Przemyslaw Placheta, Adam Idah and Jacob Sorensen as absentees for the game.
Danel Sinani and Teemu Pukki could be added to the list of unavailable players when the Luxembourg and Finland squads get confirmed later this week.
Emi Buendia and Josip Drmic will also miss the encounter as the pair serve the second of their three match suspension following their dismissals in City’s defeat to Burnley.
Aarons has made five appearances for England’s under-21s, and has established himself as one of the rising stars of English football since his graduation from the Canaries academy in 2018.
The right-back has been linked with a host of top-flight clubs but City boss Daniel Farke reiterated earlier this week that the club wouldn’t sell their top talent on the cheap.
Godfrey and Cantwell will be hoping to add to their international caps with minutes during the respective fixtures.
Skipp is in line to make his fourth England Under-21 appearance and joined City from Spurs on a season-long loan earlier this month.
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