Ex-Sunderland and Middlesbrough man touted for shock England call-up after social media issues

Ex-Sunderland goalkeeper Jason Steele has been linked with an England call-up, according to reports.

A TEAMtalk exclusive states that England's scouts are keeping a close eye on the progress of the Brighton goalkeeper and that manager Gareth Southgate is considering a shock late-career call-up with Euro 2024 on the horizon.

The 32-year-old stopper joined The Seagulls back in 2018 but largely acted as a back-up goalkeeper to Robert Sanchez before being handed an opportunity under De Zerbi after Garahm Potter’s departure.

Steele rose through the ranks at Middlesbrough’s academy, making 142 appearances in all competitions for his boyhood club before moving to Blackburn Rovers. Three seasons at Ewood Park followed before Steele made the move back to the North East with Sunderland following the club’s relegation from the top-flight in 2017.

He endured a tough time on Wearside as Sunderland struggles under Simon Grayson and Chris Coleman before dropping down into League One with the stopper leaving after making 15 uninspiring Championship appearances for the Wearsiders.

Steele is under contract at The Amex Stadium until 2025 after penning a long-term new deal on the South Coast back in January and has since become the club’s starting goalkeeper in the Premier League. Steele recently opened up about the impacts of social media on footballers in an interview with the BBC.

"There was a spell where I was at the bottom, properly at the bottom, to the point I wasn't even bothered about playing football anymore," Steele said.

"I'm not scared of it. I know I can bounce back from that, so failure doesn't scare me anymore," the 32-year-old added, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.

"It was a point when I hated football, I hated everything that came with it. It's the mess social media causes - it plays with you constantly and you carry it around like a big massive weight on your shoulders all the time," Steele said.

"You don't act yourself and you are hard to be around and that's what drove me to the point of not really loving football anymore. It was a case of that being the tipping point - it was like, how do I get myself back in love with the game? I've managed to do that down here."