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Soccer

Pat Nevin names the England player that is better than Phil Foden AND Jude Bellingham

Ash Rose
Pat Nevin names the England player that is better than Phil Foden AND Jude Bellingham(C)Taisei Iwamoto
Former Scotland winger picks his best of the Three Lions array of talent.

One thing new England boss Thomas Tuchel won't be short of when he begins his tenure is options in the Three Lions talented squad. 

As Lee Carsley demonstrated during his experimental line-up against Greece, England's national team can boast some of the best players in Europe—especially in the attacking areas. 

However, former Scotland winger Pat Nevin believes one name stands out from the rest right now. Speaking to BetVictor, he hailed England's Player of the Year Cole Palmer as the side's most special player, championing him above the likes of Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham. 

"If you’ve watched football for a long time, you can just tell when a player has that special something," Nevin said.  

"The first time I watched Cole Palmer, he was seeing things that other players weren’t.

"Every time other top players, like Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden, got the ball, they were looking up and pinging it straight to Palmer. You don’t do that to average players, you do it to seriously good players.

“To some degree it’s a shame for England that they’ve got Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Jack Grealish all in a similar position.

"However, I think Palmer has vision and skill levels that just set him apart from those players.

"I’m slightly hesitant to say that because I love Foden as a player, but Palmer has everything. If you wanted to buy an English player, I don’t know that there’s anyone you’d pick ahead of Cole Palmer.”

Nevin, who spent five years at Stamford Bridge in the 1980s, continued to heap praise on Chelsea star Palmer and his impact in West London, comparing the 22-year-old to one of the Premier League's all-time greats. 

Adding: “When Cole Palmer first broke through at Manchester City he came on as a sub and after just three or four touches I said, ‘I think I’ve seen the new Kevin De Bruyne’, which shocked a lot of people.

“In terms of comparing him to former Chelsea players, I think De Bruyne comes closest. He’s not a winger, he’s more of a wide attacker or a number 10. People throw in names like Eden Hazard and Frank Lampard but he’s not like either of those two, he’s just Cole Palmer.

“When you think about players in their first season at a club, not many have been better than him. Especially when you consider the fact that Chelsea only paid £40 million for him; it’s the best piece of business they’ve done by a country mile.”

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