Emma Smith
BBC Sport

England forward Lauren James says fans were "too quick to judge" during her struggles at Euro 2025.

In an interview with BBC Sport, the 23-year-old said injury problems and criticism during the tournament affected how much she was able to enjoy the Lionesses' historic triumph in Switzerland.

And with a fear of suffering racist abuse, James was also relieved to see other England players miss penalties in the quarter-final tie against Sweden after her own spot-kick was saved.

"A lot of the time fans don't know what is going on, they only know what is in front of them," she said.

"They don't know what someone is dealing with, what is going on in their life. I always say to the fans, be mindful, you don't know what someone is dealing with out there. You could just be adding on to it.

"No player goes into a game or into a season thinking I'm not going to try. It was a Euros, they don't come around often. You could have one leg hanging off, I will still tell you that I'm going to try to play."

You can read our interview in full here.

We'll have more from Sami Mokbel later this afternoon.

For now, let's turn to an exclusive interview we had this morning with England and Chelsea star Lauren James - where she opened up about her turbulent Euro 2025 campaign...

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Aston Villa had agreed a deal worth more than Manchester United's offer of £18.1m to sign Royal Antwerp goalkeeper Senne Lammens, external, but the 23-year-old Belgian snubbed the Villans for a move to Old Trafford. (Mail)

They are happy to continue with Emiliano Martinez, external this season despite a move to Manchester United not materialising, and the 33-year-old Argentina goalkeeper not interested in joining the Turkish Super Lig. (Fabrizio Romano)

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Adeyemie: Newcastle's deadline day business looks solid, but I'm worried about Man United's lack of defensive reinforcements.

I agree, Newcastle have had a strong window even with the loss of Alexander Isak. Anthony Elanga and Jacob Ramsey are excellent signings with big PL experience. Yoane Wissa is a proven goalscorer though we will have to wait and see if Nick Woltemade is an adequate replacement for Isak. It will take time for the German to adapt. Losing Isak is such a blow but they have strengthened in key areas. United certainly went heavy on attacking reinforcements this summer, close to £200m on a new front line of Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo. The acquisition of new goalkeeper Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp may help solidify their defence this season. Let's see how he performs. In terms of defensive personnel they have talented players and if they can stay fit, Ruben Amorim has good options at the back.

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Marc Guehi is extremely unhappy, external with Crystal Palace for denying him a £35m transfer to Liverpool, which came after manager Oliver Glasner threatened to resign if the 25-year-old England defender was sold. (Guardian)

Had Liverpool offered £55m for Guehi then Crystal Palace would have progressed with the transfer and the Reds may now face competition from Real Madrid, external to sign him on a free. (Telegraph)

Guehi, in the final year of his Crystal Palace contract, will reject any offer, external of a new deal as he plans to leave as free agent next summer. (Times)

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Anz: Hi Sami, just wanted to ask if you think Liverpool will go back in for Guehi and would you say he might give preference to them after successfully completing a medical with them?

Hi Anz, I think there's every chance Guehi becomes a Liverpool player in either January or on a free transfer next summer. The interest will remain and Liverpool still need a senior centre-back. The issue might be that there will be big interest in Guehi from all over Europe if he is available for nothing next year or a cut-price deal in January. But you'd imagine Liverpool will be at the front of the queue when his future is finally decided.

Right, let's get stuck into your questions to Sami Mokbel.

We start with one of the biggest stories from a chaotic transfer deadline day on Monday...

Matthew Hobbs
BBC Sport

Gareth Southgate’s 102-game stint as England manager totalled 61 wins, three penalty shoot-out victories, 24 draws and 17 defeats – including in the finals of Euros 2020 and 2024.

England scored 213 goals and conceded 72 during Southgate’s tenure, while England are the only European team to have reached at least the quarter-finals of the last four major tournaments.

Despite periods of sustained success, Southgate’s style of football was sometimes seen as too conservative - but has anything changed since his departure?

By selecting the likes of Jordan Henderson for the upcoming qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia, Thomas Tuchel has mimicked the approach of his predecessor by apparently picking certain players based on their record rather than current form – although the uncapped Elliot Anderson and Djed Spence have also been called up.

The early signs also suggest that little has changed in England’s tactical approach in qualifying wins against Albania, Latvia and Andorra, and a friendly defeat to Senegal, under Tuchel.

Tuchel’s England side are recording more shots and shots on target (albeit against some of the smaller nations in qualifying) but the fundamentals remain the same – England have more of the ball but don’t move it particularly quickly, while their sequences of passes have actually got slower so far under the 52-year-old.

How they use the ball also remains pragmatic, playing the same number of forward passes as they did under Southgate.

It is early days under England’s new head coach but the data so far suggests that fans calling for a shift to more attacking football may have to wait a little longer.

Sami Mokbel
BBC Sport Senior football correspondent

We've been putting your questions to our senior football correspondent Sami Mokbel throughout the morning - and we will start bringing you his answers from noon.

If you have a question for Sami, on everything from England to transfers and anything football-related in between, then we would still love to hear from you.

Get in touch via the form at the top of this page

England

Along with Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jarell Quansah was also added to the England squad yesterday.

Bayer Leverkusen defender Quansah was part of the England side that won the European Under-21 Championship in June.

The 22-year-old joined the German club from Liverpool in a £35 million deal last month.

He was also part of Thomas Tuchel's first England squad in March that faced Albania and Latvia in the World Cup qualifiers, but is yet to win his first senior cap.

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Callum Wilson to score the winner off the bench in New Jersey?

England

Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford, James Trafford, Dean Henderson

Defenders: Reece James, Marc Guehi, Jarell Quansah, John Stones, Dan Burn, Ezri Konsa, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Tino Livramento, Djed Spence

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White, Jordan Henderson, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Morgan Rogers, Declan Rice

Forwards: Harry Kane, Eberechi Eze, Jarrod Bowen, Anthony Gordon, Noni Madueke, Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins

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From an early age, Ruben Loftus-Cheek was earmarked as a potential England star, a difference-maker in the centre of the park.

He was feted for his strength, his ability to hold up the ball and pick a pass, clever runs into the box and good movement off the ball.

It was former England manager Glenn Hoddle who likened the now 29-year-old to legendary German midfielder Michael Ballack: "Physically and the way he plays. He gets in the box and he moves well off the ball."

Could he now seize this surprise chance?

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Ruben Loftus-Cheek has missed a total of 37 games for AC Milan in his two seasons at the club as a result of injury, according to figures on Transfermarkt.

He featured in just three games in the first three months of 2025 after struggling to come back from an abductor injury and an appendix operation.

As a result, he was unable to build on a promising first season in Italy when he scored 10 goals and weighed in with two assists.

But after going through a full pre-season under new boss Massimiliano Allegri, the 29-year-old has featured in all three league and cup games for AC Milan so far this campaign.

And he scored his first goal for the Rossoneri in nearly 18 months in Friday's 2-0 win at Lecce in Serie A.

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Ruben Loftus-Cheek's promising start to the season with AC Milan has been rewarded with a surprise call-up to the England squad.

It is more than six years since the 29-year-old earned his last call-up under Gareth Southgate in March 2019.

He made his debut as a 21-year-old under Southgate in a friendly against Germany in November 2017 and earned his 10 caps in the space of 12 months.

His last appearance for the Three Lions also came in a friendly - against the United States in November 2018.

Loftus-Cheek was a key part of Southgate's squad at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, playing in all three group games and scoring the second of his two goals for England in a 6-1 hammering of Panama that earned the side a place in the knockout stages.

However, he failed to feature in the latter rounds, only returning to the side for the third-place play-off defeat to Belgium.

Loftus-Cheek went on to make just two more appearances for England, with his chances curtailed by a succession of injuries and loss of form - until now.

AC Milan

Italian football journalist Daniele Verri speaking to BBC Sport about Ruben Loftus-Cheek's career at AC Milan: "He was always injured. He played until the beginning of December when he got injured, then basically came back at the end of April. He had muscular problems throughout the season, his appendix was removed.

"For him, it was a disaster because he was out all the time, the club was going through a terrible season with managerial changes, so he never had continuity.

"He has started well this season and he scored at the weekend in Lecce. He is still a player who has to be seen in Italy - he hasn't showed the best of himself yet.

"Manager Massimiliano Allegri recently said that he and Youssouf Fofana have 15 goals to bring to the team between them, so let's see if he is right.

"Allegri will count on him for sure, he has played in both games so far. He has potential, but he has also shown in Italy he is very prone to injuries. If he stays fit, he is a player who has quality."

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport Chelsea reporter

Ruben Loftus-Cheek was a casualty of the unprecedented churn of players at Chelsea between the Roman Abramovich ownership and the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital era.

He was the first player to properly break through the now-revered Cobham academy under Abramovich's ownership, which made him an important figure at Stamford Bridge.

Loftus-Cheek had his best years under Thomas Tuchel, who made it one of his pet projects to allow the player he compared to Germany great Michael Ballack to realise his potential.

However, it was downhill after Tuchel was sacked by the new owners and Loftus-Cheek endured a chaotic 2022-23 season as Chelsea finished 12th.

Around this time, midfielders Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo joined for more than £100m apiece and academy players were sold for 'pure profit' to help balance the books.

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Sami Mokbel
BBC Sport Senior football correspondent

We'll continue to react to that Ruben Loftus-Cheek media conference throughout the morning. But we also have a treat for you coming up shortly.

We'll be putting your questions to our senior football correspondent, Sami Mokbel.

Get in touch via the form at the top of this page on everything from England to transfers, and anything football-related in between.

We'll bring you Sami's answers to the best queries throughout today.

Alex Howell
BBC Sport football reporter at St George's Park

Ruben Loftus-Cheek is speaking at the England media day following his first call up since 2018.

I asked the AC Milan midfielder about Thomas Tuchel and how he used him at right wing-back.

Loftus-Cheek says that Tuchel "appreciates his physicality" and that the England manager is an "intelligent guy".

Physicality is a word that we have repeatedly heard from Tuchel since he took over as England boss.

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