David Seaman backing Phil Foden to light up European Championship for England

Former England goalkeeper David Seaman is most excited about seeing Phil Foden play for the Three Lions at this summer’s Euros and believes he has to start in Gareth Southgate’s side this summer.

England kick off their Euros campaign against Croatia at Wembley on Sunday, with the Three Lions being tipped by many for a strong tournament.

Key to that is the number of quality attacking options currently at Southgate’s disposal, with ex-England international Seaman backing Manchester City midfielder Foden to shine over the coming weeks.

“I’m most looking forward to seeing Phil Foden play for England this summer. He’s got to start,” Seaman said. “I love the way he plays his game. He’s even done his hair like Gazza (Paul Gascoigne), so he has set himself right up. He needs to play like Gazza too now! So, no pressure there…

“But he has the world at his feet. It’s how good he wants to be. He’s got the quality, he just needs to develop that. Not rush it. Develop it slowly, and take it season by season and improve all the time, and he’ll become an unbelievable player. He’s already an unbelievable player, but he’ll become a mega player.

“People make comparisons with Gazza but Gazza was more of a tricky player and could find passes that people couldn’t see. With Foden you get a lot more speed and his finishing quality is great. Gazza was more playing people through and battling in midfield. But if you’re going to have your hair cut like Gazza, you’ve got to start playing like him!”

Elsewhere in the team, Seaman is excited about the impact Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham can have for England, while he is backing Harry Kane to produce the goods this summer.

“There’s so many talented players” Seaman said. “Jude Bellingham – he’s a 17-year-old with a 26-year-old head on his shoulders. It seems as if he’s been around for a long time, and he can mix it with the best without feeling any pressure. I’m sure he’ll have a role to play later in the tournament.

“And Harry Kane, for me he’s the best striker. The ultimate all-round striker. When he gets a chance, he doesn’t mess about. As soon as he gets a chance to shoot, he shoots. It will be ideal if he can get the Golden Boot this summer.”

Seaman added: “It’s the strongest squad we’ve had for some time. There’s a lot of players that can step in and a lot of competition for places. There’s so much competition that it’s hard for me to pick a team. If you get injured, you’re going to be unlucky as you might not get into the team. Whoever steps into your place is a great player and that’s a good place for England to be. But there’s a lot of good players and only 11 places to put them in.”

Seaman feels Sunday’s opponents Croatia aren’t as strong as they were when they eliminated England from the World Cup semi-finals three years ago, but is still expecting a tough test for the Three Lions.

“Croatia aren’t as good as they were in 2018 but they’ll still be difficult” he said. “They’re a team that has a great history and hard-working players, but it’s all about how we play. If we play well, and we play our game, then nobody beats us. We just need to concentrate on ourselves.

“If we don’t get a good result… A draw is the least we can accept because then we’re going to need to go into the Scotland game needing a win. Obviously, that’s what happened at Euro 96 – we drew our first game and then played Scotland and beat them. Ideally you want to start off with a win, but it’s going to be tricky.”

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