Kevin de Bruyne: England favourites to win Euro 2020 because of talents like Phil Foden
De Bruyne started alongside Foden in Manchester City’s midfield for the 2-0 win over Cardiff
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Your support makes all the difference.The rise of young talents like Phil Foden and Callum Hudson-Odoi makes England one of the favourites for next summer’s European Championship, according to Kevin De Bruyne.
De Bruyne started alongside Foden in Manchester City’s midfield for the 2-0 win over Cardiff City on Wednesday night and both impressed.
And coincidentally, Foden was making his first Premier League start for City on the same night as Hudson-Odoi did the same for Chelsea.
Whereas Hudson-Odoi has made his England debut, playing the recent internationals against the Czech Republic and Montenegro, Foden is yet to receive a call-up.
De Bruyne sees no reason for England manager Gareth Southgate to rush the 18-year-old, however.
“Give him time,” the Belgian said. “It’s not because you play some games, and start a game, that you have to go into the national team.
“If he is in someone else will have to drop out – top teams are like that.
“Southgate will do what he needs to do and if Phil progresses well he has a chance to go to the Euros next year. He will play enough games for England.”
Even though he is advising to show caution with young talent for now, De Bruyne believes England are well placed for success over the coming decade.
The 2018 World Cup was England’s best in 28 years, even though it ended in defeat to De Bruyne’s Belgium in the third-place playoff.
The two sides could meet again at the Euros next year but De Bruyne fancies England, more than his home country, to win the tournament outright.
“I told the England guys a week ago that you should win the Euros. I think they are favourites, with France,” he said.
“I see the guys already established, and those coming up, so the future looks really good.
“Will they win it? I don’t know, because only one team can win it but you have a chance to do well in the next ten years.”
If Foden is to be part of that tournament, he will need to accrue more Premier League minutes than the 186 he has managed at City this year.
Pep Guardiola promised that much after the win over Cardiff and De Bruyne feels that Foden is developing at the right pace.
“People ask me what advice I can give, and it’s that everyone has to go on their own path,” he said.
“You can’t compare what happens with anybody else in their career. He’s happy here, doing really well and he plays a lot of minutes for his age.
“The pressure is more from outside. When England players come to the fore, the English people are on it.”
De Bruyne added: “To play here, in this team, or in any top team in England, where you have 20 star players who are all top internationals who have played five to ten years for their countries and for big teams, and have the minutes he has, is incredible.
“He will play more and more as time goes on, but sometimes it’s difficult because the coach wants to win every game and every cup, and to put young guys in … the task is sometimes very difficult for a manager. But he is doing really well.”
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