Fresh off a hat-trick performance for Manchester City on Wednesday, Phil Foden has the footballing world talking.
Foden has had a season to remember so far, scoring 21 times for City in all competitions. The 23-year-old has been mostly operating as a No. 10 for Pep Guardiola's side during the current campaign, and many pundits have come out to say that Foden should also be playing that same role for England.
With Euro 2024 fast approaching, Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate will have to figure out how to best employ Foden, who is often used as a substitute on the wing for England while Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham starts as the lone attacking midfielder.
One former England star is urging Southgate to reconsider his formation ahead of this summer's tournament, as Michael Owen has joined the chorus of pundits who feel that England would be best served with Foden and Bellingham playing as dual No. 10s.
"Foden has to start in my eyes," Owen told Instant Casinos. "But as things stand, and obviously this is open to change because we are still well off, but the problem is that Gareth Southgate loves playing two holding midfielders.
"[Declan] Rice, [Kalvin] Phillips [or] Rice and [Jordan] Henderson, but in my opinion that is too safe and too negative. In my opinion, and look at teams like Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, they rarely play with two number sixes.
"If I was Gareth Southgate I’d play Rice on his own there and play Bellingham and Foden ahead of him. I would have [Bukayo] Saka on the right and personally I’d have [Marcus] Rashford on the left with Harry Kane up front."
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