Gareth Southgate names Leeds duo he has ‘talked about’ ahead of Euro squad selection
England manager Gareth Southgate has name-checked Leeds United duo Kalvin Phillips and Ben White in a discussion surrounding his plans for next year’s European Championships.
The tournament has been pushed back as a consequence of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, leaving the Three Lions boss with an even longer period of time to ruminate over who should be in his final 23.
And that could lead to opportunities for standout talents who are currently on the periphery of his thinking, such as Phillips and White.
As quoted by the Independent, he said: “When we’re analysing our players – and we’ve done quite a lot of in depth analysis over the past months, position by position – we talk about potential a lot.
“With the [Mason] Greenwoods and the [Phil] Fodens I think that’s fine.
“We’ve talked about those two but it could be a Ben White, who has been on loan at Leeds, or a Kalvin Phillips, that haven’t played Premier League football yet. Those sorts of players could come into the frame. We’re always open to what it looks like.”
This is a fantastic update from Southgate, and really speaks volumes as to just how well Phillips and White have performed this season.
Neither one has registered a Premier League appearance in their careers to date, and yet both are clearly seen as real prospects by the national side.
And it’s not hard to see why either.
Taking Phillips as an example, the 24-year-old has made more accurate passes than Harry Winks, Jordan Henderson, or Declan Rice this season, as well as winning the highest percentage of duels out of the quartet and making more ball recoveries – as per Wyscout.
He may be playing in the second tier, but with those numbers, Southgate would be crazy to not consider him for a role at the very least.
If he and White can make the step up to the Premier League with ease this summer – and there’s no reason to believe they won’t – then they will surely end up getting the nod sooner rather than later.
In other Leeds United news, this report confirms whether all match highlights from the Championship will be shown by Quest.