Euro 2020: Which players should be England's attacking options this summer?
Last updated on .From the section England
An embarrassment of riches?
Gareth Southgate appears to have a real selection headache for Euro 2020, with England boasting a wealth of talent to choose from for their attacking options for the tournament this summer.
Harry Kane looks set to be the main man in attack, but around him there is a variety of seasoned talent and exciting youngsters to be able to choose from.
Depending on how manager Southgate lines up his side, there will likely be three other spaces available in attack and at least seven players who could lay a claim to a spot.
Who Southgate should take to the summer tournament as his forward options - and how he uses them in a starting XI - is something that will be discussed on BBC Radio 5 live on the Monday Night Club (19:00 GMT), but who would you start with when the Three Lions begin their tournament against Croatia on 13 June?
BBC Sport and BBC Radio 5 Live have whittled a long list of options down to a shortlist of seven - below you can take a look at some of their standout stats and you can rank them in order of who you think should start alongside Kane.
And tune into the Monday Night Club to hear who Chris Sutton and Micah Richards are backing, as well as the result of your combined lists. Only ranked lists made before 20:00 GMT on Monday, 22 March will count towards the result.
Who should start alongside Kane?
Rank the attackers you think should start for England at the Euros along with Harry Kane.
Honourable mentions
First of all, who is not on our list?
Bukayo Saka, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Tammy Abraham, Harvey Barnes, Jesse Lingard, Dele Alli, Ross Barkley, Ollie Watkins and Patrick Bamford are among those who just miss out on our seven-man shortlist of who could start for Southgate, and expect Sutton and Richards to argue the case for a few of them on Monday Night Club.
Feel passionately one of them will start at the Euros? Use the comments at the bottom of the page to tell us (or go here if you are using the app).
The seven - a quick look
| England's options at a glance | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Games | Goals per game | Assists per game | Goals + assists per game | Chances created per game |
| Foden | 22 | 0.27 | 0.23 | 0.5 | 1.41 |
| Grealish | 22 | 0.27 | 0.45 | 0.73 | 3.41 |
| Maddison | 23 | 0.35 | 0.22 | 0.57 | 1.83 |
| Mount | 28 | 0.18 | 0.11 | 0.29 | 2.46 |
| Rashford | 29 | 0.31 | 0.24 | 0.55 | 1.17 |
| Sancho | 21 | 0.29 | 0.43 | 0.71 | 2.76 |
| Sterling | 25 | 0.36 | 0.2 | 0.56 | 1.28 |
| All stats from league games this season | |||||
Phil Foden (Manchester City)
England caps: 3
Phil Foden has played the fewest number of Premier League minutes this season out of all of England's potential attacking options but that does not mean he has contributed the least - far from it.
He has six goals and five assists for Manchester City this season and also boasts the best passing accuracy (87.52%).
Jack Grealish (Aston Villa)
England caps: 5
Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish has earned plenty of plaudits this season and deservedly so. He is a big player for Villa and it is of little coincidence that, during the midfielder's absence with a leg injury, the Midlands club have won just one of their last seven games.
None of England's other attacking options have created as many chances in the Premier League as Grealish has (75). He has been involved in 16 goals (six goals and 10 assists) for Villa this season, contributing towards 0.73 goals per game, the highest of all the players on our shortlist.
James Maddison (Leicester City)
England caps: 1
James Maddison's start to the season was disrupted by a hip injury but despite that he has been a hugely influential player for Leicester in their push to secure a top-four finish.
He has been involved in 13 goals (eight goals and five assists) and created 42 chances in 23 games for the Foxes in the Premier League this term.
Mason Mount (Chelsea)
England caps: 13
Gareth Southgate had to defend his selection of Mason Mount back in October but the Chelsea man is showing why Southgate, Frank Lampard and now new Blues boss Thomas Tuchel rate him so highly.
His raw numbers come out lower than his rivals, with his eight Premier League goal involvements the lowest of the seven players, but he might be able to point to some sloppy finishing by his team-mates for that, as Mount is second only to Jack Grealish in terms of the opportunities he has created (68).
Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
England caps: 40
Marcus Rashford may have been doing very good things off the pitch over the last year but he also continues to provide an important contribution to a Manchester United side that are sitting second in the Premier League.
While his nine Premier League goals this season is the highest on the list, the forward may not have been quite as prolific as he was in the 2019-20 season, when he hit 17 goals. Rashford has 11 goals in 40 appearances for England.
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
England caps: 58
Raheem Sterling is an excellent all rounder. Of the options listed here, he has attempted the most number of dribbles (111), has the second-best passing accuracy (86.07%) and has been involved in 14 goals (nine goals and five assists) for Manchester City this season.
Pep Guardiola has rotated his side often to deal with the congested fixture list but Sterling is one of the players to still feature regularly, having made 25 appearances for the side who are storming their way to the Premier League title.
Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund)
England caps: 18
Borussia Dortmund forward Jadon Sancho had an incredible season in the Bundesliga last season as he finished with 17 goals and 16 assists.
He has not quite been able to replicate that form so far this term, with Dortmund struggling overall, but with six goals and nine assists in 21 games in the Bundesliga he has still been a standout player for the German side. His involvement in 15 goals for Dortmund still ranks among the best compared with the players on this list, as does his average of 2.76 chances created per game, second only to Grealish.
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Comments
Join the conversation
He should be first name on the team sheet.
Now don’t get me wrong that approach is shocking but it’s what he has come up as he has descended into madness.
Walker Stones Mguire Shaw
Hendo Rice
Foden Grealish Stirling
Kane
Jack Grealish has to start. If fully fit.
Patrick Bamford really deserves to be in the squad. Should be part of the substitutes.
Marcus Rashford is not fully fit.
Phil Foden should start. Capable of the changing the game at any point.
He needs experience in the squad..