Wayne Rooney reportedly rejected an invitation from England manager Gareth Southgate to attend a players meeting.

The Manchester United captain was left out of Southgate's Three Lions squad for this week's friendly with Germany and the weekend's World Cup qualifier with Lithuania because of fitness concerns.

But as captain of the England squad, Rooney was invited to Sunday's get-together where Southgate laid out his blueprint for the national to again become world champions.

The Telegraph says that Rooney skipped the meeting in order to undergo treatment on the knee issue that has seen him miss United's past three matches.

It is a slight surprise that a player of Rooney's standing opted to miss, especially considering Southgate said he would be in attendance when naming his squad last week.

"We're going to have a meeting with all the players about what we feel the next 18 months will look like. He [Rooney] will be there," Southgate said.

It is understood that 31-year-old Rooney's international career is now further in doubt, but he will argue restoring his fitness to a playable level is more important to him at this point in time.