Lauren James not in England’s Euros squad despite being third costliest ace ever

Lauren James missed out on England's squad for Euro 2022 despite being the third-most-expensive women's player of all time.

James, 20, joined Chelsea from Manchester United last year for a fee of around £200,000 – a record amount between two Women's Super League clubs. It also made her one of the costliest transfers of all time in the women's game, behind only Milene Domingues' move to Rayo Vallecano in 2003 and Pernille Harder's switch to Chelsea in 2020.

Former Manchester United forward James, sister of Chelsea men's ace Reece, made only six top-flight appearances last term as she struggled to recover from injury.

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That meant her chances of making it into Sarina Wiegman's squad for the Euros were slim, and so it proved as the Dutch coach left James out when the time came last month.

Despite her status as one of the game's most expensive players, the youngster has never actually won an England cap. She received her first call-up for the Lionesses in November 2020 when Phil Neville was in charge but failed to get on the pitch.

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She'll be hoping to rediscover her form from her time at Manchester United when the Women's Super League returns on September 9.

James scored 14 goals in 18 appearances in her first season with the Red Devils to help them win promotion to the WSL. She bagged six in 12 the following campaign as United finished fourth in the top-flight.

The former Arsenal academy star joined Chelsea in July last year to excited words from Blues boss Emma Hayes. "Lauren is an exciting, young talent who we have admired for a while," she said.

"When the opportunity came up to sign her, we felt now was the right time to bring her back to the club. We’re excited to see how she develops in the coming years and look forward to welcoming her to pre-season training."

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