Legendary England striker dreams of Bellingham-Foden-Palmer linkup in Germany

06/05/2024 23:00

The season is almost over and the Euros are almost upon us, so day by day attention is turning to the international scene.

With the announcement last week that squads for the tournament would now be 26 rather than 23 man, we expected some easing of the debates about who should be included. But today Michael Owen has made a splash about who would be in his England starting XI.

"I would now start Cole Palmer over Bukayo Saka. I don't think you can ignore Palmer's form and quality any longer," Owen said in quotes picked up by the Metro.

"I had him in my [theoretical England] squad a few months ago but now he's one of the best players in the Premier League. He might even get player of the year, possibly the Golden Boot, and that's in a struggling team.

"So he's now a must in my mind. I would play him on the right. I'd have Foden and him, one on the right and one central, then have Rice as a lone number 6, then Bellingham and Foden as 8s stroke 10s and Cole on the right."

The endless pains of playing for England

In a way, we're not sure we even want Palmer too involved with England. All that ever happens is that the player ends up sad and barraged with abuse when the team get knocked out – just look at Saka after the last Euros for a perfect example.

On the other hand recent times have seen the number of Blues in the Three Lions setup decline dramatically, and it's not nearly as fun supporting England without some Chelsea players in the mix.

Whatever happens from here, we're sure even the ultra-cautious Gareth Southgate can't ignore Palmer from the squad, and we'd be very surprised if he doesn't become at least a regular option off the bench in the tournament.