'You’d have to speak to Pep': Southgate doubts Phil Foden's ability to play in central midfield

Gareth Southgate has raised questions about whether Phil Foden is the right fit for a central midfield role in the England team. After England's recent 1-1 draw with Ukraine, there was a call for Foden to play centrally, but Southgate, who has talked to Pep Guardiola, hinted that he still sees the 23-year-old as a wide player.

Quoted by the Daily Mail, Southgate said: "He doesn’t play there for his club, so presumably there is a reason for that. It depends on the level of the game, really."

"In the middle of the park, everyone wants to talk about when you are with the ball but there is a lot of detail without the ball and games where you have to be spot on with pressing angles. If you don’t, you don’t get the flow of the game."

"You’d have to speak to Pep, who is the best coach in the world, who plays him wide. He’s always got the freedom to drift if we play him wide and that’s important."

"We are very happy with Phil. He’s played in the Euros, came on in the semi-final of the Euros and had a big impact, he’s played in World Cups for us. He’s only 23 years old, he’s got amazing experience.He is still progressing and learning but he is a super player."

"But we’ve got a lot of really good young players so it has not been straight-forward. We have expectations of every player and he’s been with us from a young age. But he’s battling against Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford and all of the other players we have in that area."