Wayne Rooney overlooked Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane as he named the ‘best player England have got’.
Despite boasting one of the most talented and dynamic squads in world football, England are still searching for their first major trophy in the men’s game since winning the World Cup in 1966, having lost back-to-back European Championship finals under former boss Gareth Southgate.
Rooney believes the strength of the England squad and the Premier League means the Three Lions will be ‘there or thereabouts’ at the next World Cup in 2026, with the likes of Bellingham and Kane two of the best players in Spain and Germany respectively.
Kane is England’s all-time record goalscorer while Bellingham, just 21, is expected to be a mainstay in the national team for the next decade following the sensational start to his career at Borussia Dortmund and now Real Madrid.
Yet Rooney believes Manchester City star Phil Foden is the ‘best player England have got’.
Foden underwhelmed for England at last summer’s Euros off the back of a season in which he starred in Man City’s title win and was named the Premier League Player of the Season.
That accolade already looks beyond Foden this term as he has struggled for minutes after returning to Man City late after the Euros and then having a spell on the sidelines through illness.
Asked who he ranks as the best player out of England’s current crop of stars, Rooney told talkSPORT: ‘Phil Foden, for me.
‘I know he hasn’t played that much this season for Man City but Phil Foden at his best is the best player England have got.
‘Cole Palmer has been sensational since going to Chelsea and you see everything Jude Bellingham is doing at Real Madrid. But for me Phil Foden is the one, I really enjoy watching him.’
England were in crisis before Southgate’s appointment in 2016 but the ex-Premier League player took the Three Lions to two European Championship finals.
They lost to Italy on penalties at Euro 2020 before suffering a 2-1 defeat to Spain in last summer’s Euros final.
While Rooney expects England to continue to challenge for major silverware, he hopes they have not ‘missed’ their chance to end a 58-year wait for a trophy.
‘They’re very talented,’ Rooney said when asked for his take on the current squad and their trophy prospects.
‘I just hope they haven’t missed it in the last few tournaments because obviously someone like Harry Kane, who has scored a lot of goals, if he’s not quite there in two year’s time at the next tournament, what effect does that have?
‘Hopefully they find a new one in that time or Kane is still banging them in. I just hope they haven’t missed it but then again they’ve still got Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, James Maddison… they’ve got lots of exciting young players.
‘They will be there or thereabouts in the next tournament I’m sure and hopefully they can get over the line.’
Southgate divided opinion despite taking England to multiple finals as some pundits and fans felt the team still underachieved given their huge resources.
But Rooney felt Southgate did a ‘fantastic job’, saying: ‘He was unbelievable.
‘To get England to two finals and a semi-final, he’s done something no one else has done since 1966. He got us really close to winning a trophy so yeah, I think he did a fantastic job.’
Current interim manager Lee Carsley appears to be leading the race to replace Southgate on a permanent basis and Rooney has heard good things about the 50-year-old, who he briefly played with at Everton.
Asked whether he thought at that point that Carsley could be a future manager, Rooney replied: ‘I never even thought about it to be honest, I didn’t play with him very long.
‘He was at the end of his career and I was at the start so you don’t really look at your teammates like that.
‘From people I’ve spoken to who have worked with him, he seems to be a really good coach. The next step is just continuing what Gareth was doing but maybe with a bit more urgency from the team.’
England return to action during the international break with Nations League games against Greece, on Thursday night, and Finland, on Sunday.
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