England assistant coach Steve Holland is set to attend Newcastle United’s clash with West Ham to run the rule over young midfield duo Sean Longstaff and Declan Rice, according to the Daily Mail.
The senior Three Lions man will be at the London Stadium on Saturday evening to watch the precocious pairing, with view to potential international call-ups in the near future.
Rice recently switched international allegiance to represent England despite having already played three matches for the Republic of Ireland, while Longstaff, who only made his Premier League debut on Boxing Day, has been nominated for February’s Player of the Month award, as reported by the Chronicle.
OPINON
This isn’t really a surprise, is it? Both Longstaff and Rice have been exemplary in the short time that they have been Premier League players, and both look as if they have every chance of going to the very top of the game. Rice has perhaps been the higher profile of the two youngsters just on the basis of his well-documented decision to switch international allegiances to the Three Lions, but that shouldn’t detract from how incredible Longstaff has been recently. There is a growing tendency to compare the two players, but really it would be more beneficial and less detrimental to not players if, rather than encouraging needless competition, Southgate looked at the best way that he could accommodate two remarkable young talents into his squad. It may not be as tantalising from a news perspective, but it could lead to big rewards in the future for the national team.