
Aitor Karanka has sent a classy congratulations tweet to Ben Gibson after his England call-up.
The Middlesbrough defender has been a late addition to Gareth Southgate’s squad after Chris Smalling withdrew through injury.
He’s earned the recognition after impressing for Boro in his first Premier League season.
And the majority of that has been spent under Karanka, who led the Riverside club up until his contract was mutually terminated earlier this month.
Despite the acrimonious end to Karanka’s spell at Boro, the Spaniard still found time to tweet about his former player after earning the call from Southgate:
Every effort is rewarded. You deserve it, Ben! #ThreeLions pic.twitter.com/XwJpq1nRxX
— Aitor Karanka (@Karanka) March 24, 2017
Despite the way he was treated by some Middlesbrough fans before leaving the club, that is a classy message from Karanka, who appears to be holding no grudges.
As for Gibson, he’ll go in to the England squad, but it’s unlikely he’ll play against Lithuania in their World Cup qualifier at Wembley on Sunday.
Michael Keane, John Stones and Gary Cahill should be picked by Southgate and only an injury to them should see Gibson get any game time.
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