Paul Merson says 32-year-old Liverpool player would start for Gareth Southgate if he was English

Paul Merson has named a Liverpool player as one of just two non-English Europeans he thinks are good enough to walk into the present England squad.

Merson, writing on Sky Sports, said Reds captain Virgil van Dijk and PSG’s Kylian Mbappe are the only such players he would pick.

Van Dijk is back to his best and looking to help Jurgen Klopp end his time at Liverpool on a high this season by winning yet more silverware.

The 32-year-old is arguably the best centre-back in the world, having delivered trophies aplenty for the Reds over the past five years.

Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images

Meanwhile, England currently boast one of the strongest squads they’ve had in a long time, and will fancy their chances of going all the way at Euro 2024.

Merson believes the Three Lions squad is packed with quality and ready to claim top spot in Germany this summer.

So much so that, of all the players who could be up against England this summer, he thinks only Van Dijk and Mbappe would walk into the team.

“No team can live with England over a month of football,” wrote Merson. “We’ll have players on the bench that would walk into any other team.

“I couldn’t name a European national team that the likes of Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish wouldn’t walk into.

“If I could pick players from across Europe to put in England’s team, I’m only picking Kylian Mbappe and Virgil van Dijk.”

It’ll certainly be an interesting tournament as far as England are concerned. They’ve been on the right track since 2018, when they reached the semi-finals of the World Cup.

Now, it looks as though the team has reached its peak in terms of players in their prime and top talents coming through.

Admittedly, it’s nice to hear Merson say Van Dijk is one of just two non-English Europeans who’d walk into the squad. It shows what a great player he is.

He’ll be hoping he can steer the Netherlands to a first major international trophy since 1988 this summer.

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