Gary Lineker has shared his preferred England starting line-up for this summer, but is there any room for Chelsea’s Cole Palmer?
England are now just days away from kickstarting their Euro 2024 tournament in Germany.
Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions side begin their group stages versus Serbia on Sunday night, so all eyes will be on the manager to see the XI he picks.
Cole Palmer, 22, is with the England group for his first ever senior major international competition.
The versatile attacker felt like a shoe-in for the 26-man squad after a stunning debut year in Chelsea colours, scoring 25 goals in 45 Blues appearances last season.
There’s some serious competition for places at the top end of the pitch in England’s squad, though.
Gary Lineker names his England XI
Interestingly, Chelsea star Palmer just misses out on the starting XI compiled by Gary Lineker.
Instead, he’s gone with a front four of Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Anthony Gordon. They’re just ahead of a midfield pivot of Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham.
Lineker told The Rest Is Football: “Cole Palmer is a a wonderful talent. He could play as a No 10. We’ve seen him on the right, we’ve not really seen him on the left. I was tempted to put him on the left-hand side of the England team and if you want to just keep rotating you could do that. But actually I’m going with Anthony Gordon on the left.”
Lineker’s full England line-up is:
Pickford
Walker Stones Guehi Trippier
Rice Bellingham
Saka Foden Gordon
Kane
Cole Palmer must play a significant role
Even if Southgate opts not to start Palmer, the Chelsea talisman should still be playing a key role out in Germany this summer.
He’s always a creative threat when he’s on the pitch, whether that’s in his preferred No 10 spot or on the wing drifting infield.
Palmer’s got such a calm head on young shoulders that you’ve got to trust he would thrive playing on the Euros stage.
The left-footed attacker will strike fear into opposition defenders at this tournament.