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England’s next Wayne Rooney?
- Updated: October 11, 2016
Wayne Rooney’s time as England’s talisman looks to be coming to an end following Gareth Southgate’s decision to drop the country’s all-time top scorer for their World Cup Qualifier against Slovenia.
Rooney, who will be a substitute on Tuesday, insists he will not retire from international football and has vowed to regain his place in England’s starting line-up.
He first burst onto the international scene as a teenager at Euro 2004, scoring four goals en route to the quarter-finals.
With the next World Cup two years away, we look at a collection of young English players who could step up and make a similar impact in Russia…
Marcus Rashford – Manchester United
The 18-year-old striker is undoubtedly the best placed of the five players on this list to replace Rooney, and arguably the process is already well under way at club and international level.
Rashford started the season on the bench under Jose Mourinho, but has forced his way into contention with three league goals in as many starts, and is back in the England senior team after a hat-trick on his Under-21s debut.
Southgate has urged caution, suggesting Rashford will drop back down next summer for the Under-21 European Championship in Poland.
“I still think that we would hope that Marcus would go to the Under-21 championships next summer because it would be great for his development – there’s obviously a long way to go until then but that, we feel, would be a good experience for him,” Southgate said.
Perhaps with one eye on Russia 2018?
Patrick Roberts – Manchester City (on loan to Celtic)
The City winger, who has been tipped for the top since his time at Fulham, is enjoying Champions League football on loan at Celtic, where his manager Brendan Rodgers is a big fan.
“Raheem Sterling is speed, wing play, and Patrick is more a David Silva type, more on the inside,” the Celtic boss said in July. “He looks like he has an eye for goal.” And it’s not just Rodgers.
Barcelona boss Luis Enrique was left …
