Gary Neville heaped praise on the Arsenal star (Picture: YouTube)
Gary Neville says Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka is ‘not far off’ Champions League stars and Ballon d’Or contenders Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane.
Bellingham, Foden and Kane were all named in the Champions League team of the season following their impressive performances for Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich.
In his first season at the Bernabeu, Bellingham helped Real Madrid win the competition for a record-extending 15th time, Carlo Ancelotti’s side beating Borussia Dortmund in the Wembley final.
Manchester City were eliminated by Madrid in the quarter-finals, with Foden impressing in Europe as he did domestically to take home the Premier League player of the season award and lift the trophy for a sixth time.
Trophies continued to evade Kane in his first season at Bayern Munich but the England captain recorded sensational individual numbers, scoring 44 goals in 45 games.
Neville expects Bellingham, Foden and Kane to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or award and says Saka ‘isn’t far off that status’ either.
Saka enjoyed another productive campaign for Arsenal, scoring 20 goals and making 14 assists to help his boyhood club challenge for the title and reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Bukayo Saka enjoyed another productive season for Arsenal (Picture: Getty)
‘Watching Jude Bellingham lift the Champions League at Wembley on Saturday night in his first season at Real Madrid, to add to La Liga, the Super Cup, his 23 goals and his La Liga Player of the Season trophy, was a reminder of the fantastic talent Gareth Southgate has available to him this summer,’ Neville wrote in The Overlap newsletter.
‘The UEFA team of the season was released on Monday made up of the best players in the Champions League in 2023-24 and Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Harry Kane were all in it.
‘All three of those will be Ballon d’Or contenders at the end of the year. Only France, with Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, have comparable attacking talent to England right now.
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‘But the depth England have is astonishing. Bukayo Saka isn’t far off the status of that trio.’
Saka is expected to start for England at Euro 2024 as Gareth Southgate’s side look to finally end their wait for a major trophy.
The Three Lions beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 in their penultimate warm-up game on Monday and face Iceland at Wembley on Friday before travelling to Germany for the Euros.
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