Washington: Young English players should consider following Jadon Sancho’s lead and move abroad if they are struggling to make an impact at Premier League clubs, according to Wayne Rooney.
Sancho last week became the first player born this century to be called up for England after excelling for Borussia Dortmund, and Rooney, the national side’s record goalscorer, believes that youngsters may look abroad if they are unable to make an impact at home.
- Wayne Rooney
Reiss Nelson and Ademola Lookman have also developed since moving to the Bundesliga after struggling to make an impact at Arsenal and Everton, and Rooney believes it will become increasingly common as the pressure on Premier League managers means they are unable to give young talent regular game-time.
When asked about Sancho’s move to Germany from Manchester City in August 2017, Rooney said: “It’s good [to do that] because some of them aren’t getting the chances maybe they need and may need to look abroad to get that chance. It’s a shame in some ways but it may be the best option for some players to get top-level football. And, to be fair, he [Sancho] has probably done better than people thought he would. Maybe some more young players will follow.
August when Sancho moved to Dortmund
“There is a lot of pressure on all the managers, they probably feel they haven’t got the time to play a young player into the team. They have to try demand to play by their performances and [Marcus] Rashford, [Jesse] Lingard, and [Raheem] Sterling in the last couple of years, the manager has had no option but to play them.”
Rooney also believes the foreign influence on the Premier League has yielded major change, picking out the work of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, with Sterling a particular beneficiary of the former’s appointment.
There has been lobbying for more English coaches to be given opportunities in the top flight but Rooney is adamant the influence of foreign coaches was just as crucial as the national side reached their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years this summer.
“It is hard because people want more English players, more English coaches, but I think some of the foreign coaches have brought a different level to the young English players,” Rooney said. “The likes of [Pep] Guardiola, [Jurgen] Klopp. You are seeing the likes of Sterling, how much he is improving. Sometimes you have to embrace the top-class foreign [coaches].”
Gareth Southgate, who last week signed a new four-year contract to stay on as coach until after the 2022 World Cup, has already signalled his determination to put his faith in youth by naming the uncapped Sancho, Mason Mount and James Maddison in his squad for the Uefa Nations League games with Croatia and Spain.
It is an approach Rooney fully supports as he believes — some 15 years after he made his international debut, at just 17 years and 111 days old — that the current crop are ready to make a real impact.
“I think it is good to try the players, although, obviously, you never know how they are going to do unless you try them,” Rooney said. “Some players might surprise you, some players play a lot better when they are around better quality players. Hopefully, some can surprise everyone and take their chance. First of all, it’s great that Gareth has given them that faith and that belief. If they are not good enough, you can always put them back in the Under-21s.”
Rooney feels able to offer his views from a distance as he settles into life away from English football. There is no international break for him as he focuses on life at DC United, having scored twice in a 2-1 win over Chicago Fire on Sunday that continues his team’s extraordinary progress since he arrived. The difference in his new circumstances is evident as he chats to local media wrapped in a towel, wiping sweat from his brow in a small annexe off the main changing room.
He is proving a genuine success story in the United States and it is already two years since his last cap against Scotland at Wembley. He was recalled in August of last year by Southgate for the World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovakia and decided then, at 31, that he would not be going back. He will turn 33 this month and there are no regrets about the decision, either for himself or for the team.
“It was a difficult situation to walk away from but I thought it was the right time — not only for myself but for England,” he said. “I said the quality in the squad, the potential, is there in the next four years and I just thought I had got to a stage when it was best for me to step aside and let them come through and flourish under the new manager and new system.
“I have no regrets. I watched them in the World Cup and I loved it. It was something I haven’t done since school.”
— The Telegraph Group Ltd, London
