Thomas Tuchel admits omitting Trent Alexander-Arnold from his England squad may be unfair, but the Three Lions boss was keen to see Ben White get a second chance at international level.

Alexander-Arnold was absent when Tuchel announced his squad for England's forthcoming friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, with La Celeste visiting Wembley on Friday.

The former Liverpool full-back initially struggled after joining Real Madrid on a free transfer at the end of last season, though his form has picked up in recent weeks. 

Alexander-Arnold started both legs of Madrid's Champions League last-16 triumph over Manchester City, then supplied a sublime assist in a 3-2 derby win over Atletico Madrid going into the international break.

But despite that upturn, he has been left out by Tuchel again, having only made one appearance for his country under the German – in a 1-0 win over Andorra last June.

Jarrell Quansah was among those included ahead of Alexander-Arnold, but when the Bayer Leverkusen man withdrew due to injury, Tuchel turned to Arsenal defender White.

"It's just a choice," Tuchel said of Alexander-Arnold's omission. "It's a sporting choice. Maybe a hard choice, and maybe – to a degree – unfair. 

"The choice was for White because I saw him play in the cup final, in the Champions League match before, and he was back to his old self. It was a chance to meet him in person. 

"I know what Trent can give us, so the choice was for Ben and Tino Livramento, to stick with the guys who had a good camp with us in September, October or November. Djed Spence as well. 

"I know it creates noise when you leave a player like Trent out. We had a call; I tried to explain the situation. He just has to accept it."

White has not been involved in an England squad since the 2022 World Cup, having made himself unavailable for selection without ever publicly confirming why.

It was reported at the time that White had been involved in a falling out with a member of Gareth Southgate's backroom team, but Tuchel would prefer to focus on the future.

"I think everyone deserves a second chance. Second, I don't know exactly what happened. I was also not 100% interested because I wanted to open a new page and a new book and a new opportunity.

"Once I asked Ben if he would be ready to play for me and for England, he, without hesitation, said he would love to come back and was desperate to come back.

"I think it's necessary he clears the air with his team-mates and I think he will, with players who might come back who were at the World Cup together with him.

"Then we'll go from there. Let's see how it goes and let's see how he feels, if he feels as comfortable and as confident as he thought he would. Until now, this has been the case."

England will be without their captain Harry Kane against Uruguay after granting him permission to join the camp late, and Tuchel says Ollie Watkins and Dominic Calvert-Lewin now have a huge chance to prove themselves.

He said: "Harry is Harry, our captain. A starter for us. The question is if we are chasing a result, do we really take Harry off? When is there a chance to be a sub for Harry? 

"Or do we look for someone who will play with Harry? Or someone who is a good penalty taker? These are the questions we have to answer. It's important they understand it's a big chance to be in camp without Harry, to compete for a real chance to start."