Friday 23 November 2018 15:26, UK
England could have the world's "best ever" under-21 team if eligible members of the senior squad were playing, according to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
Aidy Boothroyd's side extended their unbeaten run to 22 matches with victories over Denmark and Italy during the international break and will be one of the favourites for next summer's European Championships, for which the draw takes place on Friday evening.
Their success has been made even more impressive by the number of players that have been unavailable due to their inclusion in Gareth Southgate's senior squad, which reached the World Cup semi-finals.
"If somebody saw the game against Italy, they would say, 'wow, nobody should worry about the future of English football,'" Klopp said.
"This team could be the world's best U21 team ever if you think who could play from the first team.
"Like Trent (Alexander-Arnold,) (Ben) Chilwell… Mason Mount is injured I think, but (Marcus) Rashford. Unbelievable, what a team that is, and (Ruben) Loftus-Cheek probably could play as well."
Eight members of Southgate's most recent squad would be eligible to play at next summer's tournament, including Liverpool defender Joe Gomez.
Tottenham duo Dele Alli and Harry Winks both featured in England's wins over the USA and Croatia, as did Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho.
One player taking advantage of the situation has been Liverpool striker Dominic Solanke, who scored twice in each of the U21s' latest victories.
The 21-year-old has yet to feature for Liverpool this season and the only time he made the bench was for a third round Carabao Cup tie against his former club, Chelsea.
"He is the striker in that team and he did really well so that's good," Klopp said.
"The situation here is a bit difficult, but if Dom continues like he did so far then everything will be fine, 100 per cent."
"He's our player and if I have to decide, it will stay that way."
