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'He's A Player We Like A Lot': Gareth Southgate Tips Youngster To Star For The Three Lions

'He's A Player We Like A Lot': Gareth Southgate Tips Youngster To Star For The Three Lions

The England manager revealed his admiration for the player when announcing his England squad for the next set of World Cup Qualifiers.

James Aldred

James Aldred

Gareth Southgate has admitted Arsenal's Emile Smith-Rowe was 'very close' to being a part of his latest England squad.

Smith-Rowe has been extremely impressive for The Gunners so far this season and starred in their 3-1 win against Tottenham last Sunday, with Southgate revealing he's a big fan of the 21 year old.

"He's a player we like a lot," the latter said in a press conference ahead of his side's upcoming World Cup Qualifiers, as quoted by Metro. "He was very close to making the squad.

Image Credit- PA Images
Image Credit- PA Images

"At this moment in time I don't want to bring in any more younger players out of the Under-21s. They have got to earn that right over a longer period. I thought his (Smith-Rowe) performance against Tottenham was very good.

"We know how he finished last season as well. I can only say he is a player we really like and he was close."

The Three Lions' boss was also asked about Smith-Rowe's teammate Ben White, who was a part of the Euro 2020 26-man squad. However, much like The Gunners' no.10, Southgate says the former Brighton defender was in his thoughts but didn't quite make the cut.

Image Credit- PA Images
Image Credit- PA Images

"He (Ben White) performed well against Tottenham," Southgate continued. "(He) is still settling into a new club. But the performance showed good signs and he is a player we are monitoring closely.

"He would have been very close to this squad as well."

Fikayo Tomori, Ollie Watkins, Aaron Ramsdale and Phil Foden have all returned to the 23-man squad for these next two matches, which are against Andorra and Hungary. However, England will be without several star players including Harry Maguire, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jude Bellingham and Mason Greenwood.

Image Credit- PA Images
Image Credit- PA Images

Southgate explained that whilst Maguire and Alexander-Arnold are unavailable due to injuries, Bellingham and Greenwood are omitted because of fears of they might suffer from burnout.

"I've spoken to them both," the 57-time international explained, as quoted by BBC Sport. "Jude at the moment is playing a high level of matches with Champions League games, league games.

"As an 18 year old he had a full season last season and then into the Euros with no break. We have to remember these lads are still physically growing, so when we talk about young player development we have to be really careful in how we handle them.

Image Credit- PA Images
Image Credit- PA Images

"These are two players we think can be really exciting for England's future. We don't want to overload them, we want to make sure we are making the right decisions with them."

We'll see how the squad gets on when they travel to the 5th placed team in the Qualifying Group next Saturday. Kick-off is at 7:45pm.

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Topics: Emile Smith-Rowe, Jude Bellingham, Mason Greenwood, Ben White, England, Qatar 2022, Gareth Southgate