Wayne Rooney has launched a stinging attack on England manager, Thomas Tuchel over his decision to leave Trent Alexander-Arnold out of the national team setup, describing the omission of the Real Madrid defender as “mind-boggling” with the World Cup now just weeks away.

Speaking on his podcast, the former England captain and Manchester United striker left no room for ambiguity in his assessment. “I find it incredible that he’s not in a 35-man squad,” Rooney said, adding that the manner in which Tuchel spoke about the situation suggested there may be no way back for the 27-year-old at all. Rooney went further, insisting that Alexander-Arnold possesses qualities that simply do not exist elsewhere in the English game.

“Look at his ability, his quality — I know he’s not the best defender, he’ll probably admit that himself. But what he has on the ball is something no other English player has.”

The frustration is rooted in Alexander-Arnold’s form at club level. After a difficult start to life at the Bernabeu hampered by a thigh injury and a muscle tear earlier in the season the former Liverpool man has re-established himself in Real Madrid’s starting XI and been performing well. Yet despite his return to fitness and regular football at one of the world’s biggest clubs, he has now been overlooked for Tuchel’s last four England squads. He has not featured for the Three Lions since a World Cup qualifying match against Andorra last June.

What has deepened the sense of injustice for many is the players who were included ahead of him. Arsenal’s Ben White earned a place in the squad and even scored in England’s 1-1 friendly draw with Uruguay, while Newcastle’s Tino Livramento and Tottenham’s Djed Spence were also called up among the defensive options. Rooney acknowledged White’s quality but refused to accept the logic of the selection. “No disrespect to Ben White I think he’s a fantastic player but for him to be in the squad and playing ahead of Trent is mind-boggling,” he said.

Former England defender, Phil Jagielka echoed those sentiments, saying that if Alexander-Arnold performs even close to his best, Liverpool levels, he deserves to be on the plane to North America.

Rooney also hinted that the exclusion may run deeper than pure footballing judgement. He pointed to Alexander-Arnold’s close friendship with Jude Bellingham, who has had his own complicated relationship with the Tuchel era, and suggested the manager may be looking to break up what he perceives as a clique within the dressing room. “There’s an argument that he should start for England. So to not have him in the squad, it feels a little bit deeper from Tuchel,” Rooney said. “Maybe Tuchel feels there’s a clique there and he’s trying to split that up. I don’t know what the reasons are.”

With the World Cup set to get underway on June 11 and England facing Croatia, Ghana and Panama in Group L Tuchel is under mounting pressure to finalise a squad that satisfies both tactical and harmony considerations.

For now, Alexander-Arnold’s international future hangs in the balance, and some of the loudest voices in English football are making clear they believe that would be a significant mistake.