Pundit urges Southgate to give Man City star crucial England role

Phil Foden is the best number 10 England have to offer.

That is the view of former Aston Villa and Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore, who thinks Gareth Southgate should pick the Manchester City playmaker ahead of other available options.

Ahead of the Three Lions’ upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Ukraine and Scotland, Southgate has called up three attacking midfielders.

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Along with Foden, Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze and Tottenham Hotspur’s James Maddison have also earned senior call-ups.

And when it comes to which player should start just behind Harry Kane and in between Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka on the wings, Collymore believes Foden is a cut above the rest.

“We know Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice will be England’s preferred midfield pairing but with Eberechi Eze, James Maddison and Phil Foden all vying for what you would expect to be one other midfield spot, it’s going to be interesting to see which player gets the nod,” Collymore said in an exclusive interview.

“Although Eze and Maddison have both been in excellent form recently, and both thoroughly deserve their call-ups, it’s a no-brainer for me; I would start Foden behind Kane. We know just how good he is; you don’t start over 20 Premier League games for Manchester City in both of the last two seasons if you’re average.

“For England, we’ve mostly seen Foden played in a wide role, but with Bukayo Saka nailing down the right-wing spot and Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford the first-choice left-wingers, Foden absolutely must play in his preferred number 10 role.”

Do you agree with Collymore? – Should Foden be England’s regular number 10, and if not, which player should be? – Let us know in the comments.