Leicester City’s inclusion in Euro 2024 sticker book leaves England fans baffled

England supporters were left confused after discovering that Leicester City full-back Luke Thomas has made it into the official Topps Euro 2024 sticker book despite not making his senior debut for Gareth Southgate’s side.

The 22-year-old Foxes academy graduate spent the year away from the club, first on loan at Premier League side Sheffield United before switching to Middlesbrough in the second half of the campaign. In total, he made 25 appearances, on top of his previous 85 outings for City.

In his young career, he has lifted the FA Cup, the Community Shield and taken home the European Under-21 Championships with the Three Lions – but has yet to be recognized by the top team in England’s international set-up. So when Thomas appeared in the official collector’s book for this summer’s major tournament, some questions were rightly raised.

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2022 UEFA sticker collection maker Topps have brought in Jose Mourinho to promote their latest edition in their new advert. through X, Second level podcast then advertised in the book itself how there was a space for Under-21 star Thomas.

Fans jumped in and responded with questions like “do they know anything?” and say he would be a “better option” than former Foxes defender Ben Chilwell. After the first point of confusion was cleared up, it was then debated why Topps listed Thomas as a Sheffield United player when Bramall Lane’s loan was mutually terminated on 12 January 2024.

And it doesn’t stop there. John Stones, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford are all names that may be more commonly associated with the modern England squad, but none of them are available in this year’s sticker collection.

Although “proud” of their first attempt at a Euro sticker book, Topps admitted to BBC Newsbeat that they were disappointed not all of England’s regulars were included. “This is because the tour’s former sticker partner blocked certain parts of the collection to the detriment of fans.”

International tour sticker books have long been synonymous with the Panini brand, however a changing of the guard appears to have caused problems for the new supplier. For those wanting a complete collection, Panini still have their own ‘tour edition’ album just for the England team, not including the rest of the nations involved in this year’s finals in Germany.

How bizarre! Will you be collecting Euro 2024 stickers this summer? Let us know in the comments section HERE