Leon Osman has sensationally claimed that Tottenham youngster Harry Winks would be his first name in the England starting XI.
The 21-year-old midfielder is enjoying a stunning season where he has cemented his position in Spurs’ team and also earned his first senior cap for the Three Lions.
He has capitalised on injures to Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama to impress in Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
The central midfielder is earning rave reviews for his technical ability and range of passing, which helped him earn a call-up to Gareth Southgate’s team.
Winks made his England debut at senior level in a 1-0 win over Lithuania and was scheduled to play during the current international break, but pulled out of the squad with an ankle injury.
BBC pundit and ex-Everton ace Osman has explained that the Spurs academy graduate would be a guaranteed starter in his England team right now and even drew comparisons with footballing legend Andrea Pirlo.
Osman’s statement seems remarkable when England also have the likes of Harry Kane, Gary Cahill, Marcus Rashford and Dele Alli as regulars.
“For me Harry Winks is the first name on that team-sheet at the moment,” Osman told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“He’s the guy who Italy had in Pirlo, I’m not saying he’s at that level yet, but he links everything up. He’s the guy who links the back and the front up.”
OPINION
The hype around central midfielder Winks continues to grow, but everyone needs to take a step back on the Spurs man and try not to crank the pressure too much. He is enjoying his first full season of senior football at club level, yet he is already being dubbed the player to save the national team. Winks could well develop into a key player for both club and country moving forward, but he needs to continue getting minutes under his belt and improving. England are not blessed with a large group of talented midfielders in their squad and the Spurs youngster should be eyeing a spot in the starting XI. However, there are far more obvious players to Southgate’s team and his Spurs team-mate Kane is an obvious one. Winks will give England a different edge to their game with his reliability in possession, but could face competition from Eric Dier, Adam Lallana, Jordan Henderson and Jake Livermore for a starting position at next year’s World Cup.