The England manager replied, "Yes, there is," without specifying whether or not that line had already been crossed. "But we weren't really considering including the City players for this next game," they said.
Before tonight's European Championship qualifier, which should be the easiest of them all, Southgate and his coaching team traveled to Malta with all of their players.
But perhaps it's for the best because he had always intended to be without the City fivesome of Jack Grealish, John Stones, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, and Kalvin Phillips for the opening match of a doubleheader that concludes with a match against North Macedonia on Monday at Old Trafford.
City's been on a roll ever since we witnessed them win the Champions League last Saturday night in Istanbul.
"I've seen enough to know what might be of use to us here, and Monday is still a few days away." We have previously had players who had just played for teams in the Champions League final, but we have never had a treble-winning team. Things will never be the same for that team of players and staff again. Everything in their lives changes.
With victories over the weakest teams in their group over the next four days, England can almost certainly secure qualification for next summer's championships in Germany after winning their first two qualifiers in Italy and at home against Ukraine in March.
Marc Guehi, a defender for Crystal Palace, will start tonight's match for England alongside Harry Maguire. Southgate is likewise
On the way to the game and on the way home, England's supporters taunted the players. After a late flurry of goals, they triumphed 4-0, but only after England had trailed by 1-0 and the majority of the visiting supporters had already departed the stadium.
Southgate remembered, "Myself and Steve Holland were talking about it as we landed." Because some were at the bar at 1-0 and some at 0-0, I'm not sure everyone was aware of our 4-0 victory.
For us, it served as a useful illustration of how far our relationship with the fans has progressed. Although performances will fluctuate, the relationship with the audience now feels entirely different.
When Southgate was reminded that night, supporters were chanting "We are f*****g sh*t," he responded:
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