Southgate: "The most important thing is that he keeps playing regularly. At his age that's key to him learning and improving."
Saturday 13 June 2020 23:28, UK
Gareth Southgate believes any decision Jadon Sancho makes about his future will benefit England.
The Borussia Dortmund forward is expected to be in demand this summer, with Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea all linked with moves for the man who scored a first senior hat-trick last month and has a tally of 17 goals in 24 Bundesliga starts this term.
He has excelled in Germany since a 2017 move from Manchester City but Southgate believes wherever the 20-year-old ends up it will still aid England.
"From a personal point of view, for England, whichever route opens up is positive," said the England boss.
"He'll play at Dortmund, he is well looked after by the staff and they give the right messages.
"There isn't a downside for us if he stays with Dortmund but if we see him in the Premier League that brings different opportunities to see him in a different environment and how he adapts to that.
"The most important thing is that he keeps playing regularly, at his age that's key to him learning and improving.
"The key is he has to play football. The beauty of him playing at Dortmund is he has played regularly and he has played in a team expected to hit a certain level.
"Champions League football is another bonus and that need to be challenging Bayern Munich all the way.
"The Premier League would provide him with a different challenge, the depth of the league is a bit more intense - in terms of the quality."
Southgate has also warned his England stars he is keeping an eye on them, after some flouted the rules during the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Kyle Walker has twice been caught breaking coronavirus lockdown rules, when he allegedly hosted a party and then when he travelled to South Yorkshire to visit his sister and parents at different addresses.
Jack Grealish, Jadon Sancho and U21 international Morgan Gibbs-White have also reportedly contravened the guidelines over the past few months.
Southgate says individual mistakes will not end international careers but he is keeping tabs on the players.
"I won't judge people purely on what's happened now but we build a picture of evidence," he said.
"When dealing with young men there will always be transgressions and I will never make a decision on someone based on one mistake or one misjudgement.
"Equally, I don't miss much and you are constantly judging and assessing people and building a picture of what you're going to be working with.
"We judge on the field and off the field, what's the character and personality? We'll be away for a lockdown of 40 to 60 days if we're going to a tournament, how are those people going to cope with that?
"Are they dedicated enough? Professional enough? I'm not going to not pick somebody because of something that has happened in this period but we have a picture forming all the time of people's lives and where they are at.
"Character is important, if we are going to be a winning team."
