Marcus Rashford and Jordan Henderson in Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad

Thomas Tuchel has named Marcus Rashford in his first England squad, bringing the Aston Villa forward in from the international wilderness to complete a stunning turnaround in his fortunes.

There is also a surprise return for Jordan Henderson, who is at Ajax and last played for England in November 2023, and Tuchel has given first call-ups to Dan Burn and Myles Lewis-Skelly. Jarell Quansah, Reece James and Kyle Walker are also included along with Rashford’s Villa teammates Morgan Rogers and Ezri Konsa.

Notable absentees are Manchester City’s Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis, together with Ollie Watkins, Conor Gallagher, Morgan Gibbs-White and Angel Gomes. Also on the outside are Adam Wharton, who has been regaining fitness after a groin injury, and Ben White, although the Arsenal defender made his first start in four months only this week. There is also no place for Jarrad Branthwaite.

Rashford has shown flashes of his old self since his loan move to Villa from Manchester United in the winter transfer window, even though he has not scored and has started only once in the Premier League. The 27-year-old has supplied four assists in all competitions for Villa.

Tuchel has seen enough and he believes that Rashford’s pace and experience can be a benefit as he prepares for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley.

Rashford won the most recent of his 60 England caps in the 1-0 friendly loss to Brazil at Wembley last March when he came on as a 75th-minute substitute and struggled sorely – a performance of a piece with his toils last season when his form nose-dived under Erik ten Hag at United.

Rashford had enjoyed the most productive season of his career in 2022-23, scoring 30 goals in all competitions, but the situation became untenable for him at United under Ruben Amorim over the first half of this campaign. The United manager repeatedly questioned his attitude and at one point, even said that he would rather name the 63-year-old goalkeeper coach, Jorge Vital, as a substitute than Rashford.

England face Albania next Friday and Latvia the following Monday in their opening two World Cup qualifiers. Tuchel, who has called up four goalkeepers, had created a 55-man longlist. Players including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Bukayo Saka, Kobbie Mainoo, Harry Maguire, John Stones, Noni Madueke, Lewis Hall and Luke Shaw are injured. Ethan Nwaneri is, as expected, with the under-21s.