Wayne Rooney has suggested that one Leeds United player could still make the England squad for the 2026 tournament in North America.
16 Leeds United players are currently away on international duty, although none of those have linked up with the England squad.
Kalvin Phillips was the last Leeds player to force his way into the England set-up, when he appeared for the national team in June 2022 before leaving for Manchester City the following month.
Following his arrival at Leeds, Anton Stach backed new Leeds signing Dominic Calvert-Lewin to force his way back into the national team.
Now, former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has named Calvert-Lewin as a potential option for Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad.
Wayne Rooney on punditry duty.
Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Wayne Rooney name-checked Leeds United forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin for England
England secured a comfortable 2-0 win over Serbia in World Cup qualifying as Tuchel continued his strong start to life as manager.
However, England’s lack of options in the number nine role was highlighted once again as the England manager elected to use Phil Foden as his central striker for the closing stages of the game, as Harry Kane was substituted.
With Bayern Munich challenging on multiple fronts this season, there are concerns over who would replace Kane if he picks up an injury.
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Speaking on his podcast for the BBC, Rooney named Calvert-Lewin as one of the contenders to slot in should Kane be unavailable.
Rooney said: “If you look at the forwards, there’s Ollie Watkins, there’s [Danny] Welbeck, Calvert-Lewin, Ivan Toney?”
However, speaking alongside Rooney, former England international Emile Heskey urged Tuchel to look at the next generation, stating: “The reality is you should be looking at your [Liam] Delaps and players like that.
“You should be looking at the younger players and saying, ‘Are you ready to make that leap into the first team?'”
Dominic Calvert-Lewin warms up before a Premier League clash between Burnley and Leeds
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How does Dominic Calvert-Lewin compare to the other Premier League England contenders?
Although Calvert-Lewin has pedigree with England, having earned 11 caps in his career to date, he has not played for his country since the Euro 2020 quarter-final against Ukraine.
Calvert-Lewin’s all-round contribution to Leeds has been strong so far this season; however, one goal in all competitions is not a compelling case for international selection.
But Calvert-Lewin is actually outperforming one of the other names mentioned by Rooney. Ollie Watkins has struggled in front of goal for Aston Villa this season, scoring just once, and also has a worse expected goals vs actual goals differential.
Player Goals Expected Goals Goals v xG
Danny Welbeck 6 4.16 1.84
Dominic Calvert-Lewin 1 2.02 -1.02
Ollie Watkins 1 2.3 -1.3
Ollie Watkins’ actual goals total for the season is 2.3, which gives him a Goals v xG differential of -1.3. By comparison, Calvert-Lewin’s differential is just -1.02, according to the data from Opta.
By this metric, Brighton’s Danny Welbeck is the leading contender of the three, with six goals from a total xG of 4.16. This gives him a total differential of 1.84, far and away the highest total of the three.