Roy Hodgson will ban any transfer talk among his England squad as soon as they meet up for the World Cup.

Hodgson will announce his 23-man squad on May 12 and they will meet for the first time seven days later to start preparing for the tournament in Brazil.

The squad will partake in a week-long training camp in the Algarve, before they return to England for a friendly against Peru. England will then spend a week in Miami before departing for South America, where they play their first match of the tournament against Italy on June 14.

During that entire period - and throughout England's spell in the tournament – Hodgson will not allow his players to utter a word about transfer speculation.

Several England players – like Saints pair Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana – have been heavily linked with moves this summer.

But they will have to do so either before the tournament or when England come home because Hodgson does not want any distractions.

“I am not going to show any sympathy on that,” the England manager said. “As far as I am concerned they are signing up for England.

“If I was a real player I would say to my agent: ‘You go away, sort the options out and when you have got something to put on the table you come back to me because, at the moment, I am working for England and that is where my head is - because it can't afford not to be’.”

Hodgson was in a relaxed mood this week when he hosted a media briefing at a restaurant in Chelsea - and he did drop a few hints when questioned on his squad at the dinner table.

Raheem Sterling appears to be a dead cert, especially with Andros Townsend, Theo Walcott and Jay Rodriguez injured.

Teen pair Sterling and Shaw have all made a late surge for the squad, but Hodgson implied that his party will include a few wise old heads too.

“I made up my mind on the 23 a while ago," Hodgson said. “We can all talk about a number of young players, but let’s accept that class is permanent.

“I am going to be very conscious when I pick the squad that if I am going to pick them it's because they have a permanent class and a permanent future and it's not because they happen to be having a wonder spell."

That would seem to suggest the likes of Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard will be included, even though they have lost their places in the Chelsea first team. “The fact that Ashley has not played won't affect me that much,” Hodgson said.