Hal Robson-Kanu has told Gareth Southgate to start Phil Foden as he is the ‘closest thing’ England have to Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
The Wales icon, 33, has urged the Three Lions boss to name the Manchester City star in his squad to face Senegal in Sunday’s final World Cup clash.
Foden has started just once in Qatar so far – the Group B final against Wales where he scored in the 3-0 win.
There was an outcry from fans and pundits after Southgate opted out of fielding Foden for the 0-0 draw with the United States.
But after his impressive outing against Wales, Foden is tipped to keep his place in the squad.
Although it remains to be seen if he could feature on the left wing or play in the No.10 role behind Harry Kane.
And Robson-Kanu said Foden needed to be deployed in a central position as he compared his technical ability to that of Paris Saint-Germain duo Neymar and Mbappe.
Robson Kanu said talkSPORT“Me personally, I would play Foden against the striker.
“Because any player who looks at another player and sees that level of technical ability, you just say to yourself ‘put him on the ball in areas where he can hurt the opponent’.
“[Mason] Mount can do it, he’s done it for Chelsea and he’s also scored big goals in big games for Chelsea and has done well in an England shirt.
“But I just think Foden is, when you look at these players like France, like Brazil, Neymar, Mbappe.
“Foden is the closest thing England have to this level of caliber of player.
“So you have to put him on the pitch and you have to give him playing time.”
Like Robson-Kanu, Ray Parlor believes Foden should be played as a No.10 as he named him in his line-up to face Senegal.
Keen on an attacking team, Parlor wants Foden to feature up front alongside wingers Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka with Kane up front.
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