Southgate receives promising boost as long-term England ambition takes shape
Gareth Southgate keeps a close eye on a set of stats which looks like very promising news for English football.
The Football Association monitors the percentage and number of English qualified players starting games in the Premier League – and this season they are on course for a record high since the numbers were tracked from the 2009/10 season.
There was a season high of 94 starters (42.73 per cent) in match week 20, the average so far (up to and including week 26) is 39.09 per cent and that is up dramatically on last season’s average of 35.6 per cent.
The previous best of English starters was in the 2011/12 season when the season’s average was 38 per cent but since then there has been a steady decline all the way down to exactly 30 per cent in the 2018/19 season.
England boss Southgate referenced the latest 40 per cent stat on talkSPORT this week which was a contracted interview for one of the key broadcasters but he rather cleverly steered clear of talking about specific players.
However, Southgate will be hugely encouraged by this impressive trend which is partly driven by the remarkable development and improvement of home grown English talent.
Chelsea must be responsible for the biggest improvement as the likes of Mason Mount, Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Tammy Abraham are all getting a chance while clubs like Arsenal, Everton, Aston Villa and Leicester are promoting English talent.
It is also probably affected by the pandemic because clubs are promoting youngsters into bigger squads with a greater need to rotate and there may also be an upturn because of incoming quotas after Brexit.
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Pep Guardiola is already back on top of English football – and Manchester City are ready to back him again in the transfer market this summer.
Agents expect City to go big in the next transfer window with a left back, a new centre forward and a No6 on the shopping list as they prepare to strengthen again.
City boss Guardiola is a long term admirer of Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish but it would be hard to see him fitting into the role of a deeper lying central midfield player.
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Arsenal are battling to keep highly-rated Folarin Balogun and the Gunners may be caught in a familiar “two tier” contract trap which saw Chelsea lose Jamal Musiala to Bayern Munich two years ago.
What is very common at youth level is for clubs to get their most promising youngsters to sign a contract – with another more lucrative deal dangled before them if they hit some set targets.
It often works quite well as an incentive but teenage talent Musiala, 18, was lured away by Bayern as he clearly thought his prospects were better and he is now set to play for Germany.
Equally, Arsenal stalled on tying down Balogun, his contract is now running down but, bearing in mind the 19-year-old has had such limited opportunities, it has been difficult to convince him to stay.
This one is definitely about game time rather than cash but, while clubs are limited as to how long they can sign up under-18s, a promise of a deal only seems worth signing if they can see a pathway.
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Jesse Lingard is having a fantastic run of form while on loan at West Ham.
And maybe we should not be surprised if the rejuvenated Manchester United midfielder gets an England recall at some point given that Gareth Southgate gave him a glowing reference to West Ham boss David Moyes ahead of signing him.
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Tour operators are confident that the short flight from Qatar to Dubai will be open for the 2022 World Cup and will be attractive to corporates and fans who can combine football with luxury holidays.
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