Roy Hodgson believes two current England players are on the same level as the likes of Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and John Terry. Hodgson worked with some of the country’s greatest modern icons during his time in charge of the Three Lions between 2012 and 2016. He oversaw a transitional period between the ‘Golden Generation’ and the crop of players who would reach the World Cup semi-finals in 2018.

Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show, he said: “Marc Guehi is up there and Eberechi Eze is up there too. You’re pretty lucky if you come to a club and you’ve got those. That’s half a chance, really.”

Hodgson worked with both players at Crystal Palace, where they emerged as two of the Premier League’s best homegrown talents.

Eze departed Selhurst Park in the summer and now plays for Arsenal, while Guehi joined Manchester City in the January window.

“I accepted in my five years at Crystal Palace that there wasn’t money to spend,” added Hodgson. “We weren’t going to buy many players. If we did produce one, he’s not going to stay, he’s going to be plucked away.”

It seems almost certain that Guehi and Eze will be on the plane for this summer’s World Cup, where England will be hoping to fight for their first major title since 1966.

There are some big decisions for Tuchel to make between now and then in terms of his squad selection. While the former Crystal Palace duo will almost certainly travel, other big-name players face a battle to earn their spot.

“He tried everything,” said Tuchel, who was asked if Foden had made the most of his opportunities to impress against Uruguay and Japan.

“I would say he was excellent in camp but, yeah, he struggles to show it on the pitch. Obviously, he didn’t have a lot of minutes for City recently.

“Then he came to camp with the brightest smile and was so good in training and I thought he will just surprise us and will play with the same verve and excitement but, yeah, he struggles to have the full impact. It’s not a guarantee that he will come.”