Morgan Gibbs-White told to ‘get passport ready’ as two England regulars should be nowhere near World Cup

Cole Palmer and Phil Foden have done nothing to earn a place at the World Cup – Morgan Gibbs-White should be on the plane.

That’s the opinion of talkSPORT host and former England striker Gabby Agbonlahor, who believes Thomas Tuchel has a simple choice over his midfield dilemma.

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Tuchel will have to decide his 26-man squad for the World Cup at the end of May, with the No.10 position the most competitive spot.

Jude Bellingham may start there, but Morgan Rogers, Eberechi Eze, Foden and Palmer are all sure to contend for a place.

But those final two names in the list may not even be selected at all based on their current form for Manchester City and Chelsea, respectively.

Both Foden and Palmer have had very disappointing seasons, with Agbonlahor believing they won’t be near the squad.

Instead, the ex-Aston Villa forward believes Nottingham Forest‘s Gibbs-White should be in the Three Lions set-up.

“If there’s an England squad named today, Cole Palmer should be nowhere near it,” Agonlahor began on talkSPORT Breakfast.

“Let’s be brutally honest, in the last games that he played for Thomas Tuchel, he did nothing.

“Phil Foden has done nothing.”

“If you’re Morgan Gibbs-White, get your passport ready,” Agbonlahor added.

“If you’re Palmer or Foden, don’t be expecting a call because at the moment the number tens are Eze, Rogers, and Gibbs-White, simple as that.”

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Who takes a place on the plane?

Gibbs-White is yet to make an appearance for England under Tuchel, despite receiving a call-up for his first camp in charge in March.

Since then, he hasn’t received the call, with the German preferring other options for the final friendlies before the World Cup.

But could his recent form have put him back into contention, having scored five goals in his last five games, including a hat-trick?

It has taken his tally for the Premier League campaign up to 12 goals and two assists, which trumps both Palmer and Foden.

Palmer, who has struggled with injury issues, only has nine goals and one assist, with Foden having seven goals and three assists.

And when it comes to minutes played throughout the campaign, Gibbs-White is well clear of his two England rivals.

He has played 3,772 minutes and 48 games across the Premier League, Europa League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

For Palmer, he’s only featured 22 times for Chelsea, collecting just 1,975 minutes, while Foden has 2,738 minutes in 44 appearances.

So, despite having the fewest England caps of the three, Gibbs-White’s current form and more regular gametime may force Tuchel to consider him for a place on the plane this summer.

In agreement

Agbonlahor isn’t the only talkSPORT pundit to think that Gibbs-White deserves a spot in the Three Lions’ squad either.

Speaking earlier this week, Ally McCoist said that he still believed the midfielder could sneak in despite a snub in March, when Tuchel’s side went on to perform poorly against Uruguay and Japan.

McCoist said when asked if his chances of a World Cup call-up were finished: “No, not at all. His hat-trick [against Burnley] was excellent, particularly goals two and three – the header and the volley at the back post were superb.

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“How many times have we said it? Those two games [vs Uruguay and Japan] ended up being good ones to miss because no one impressed.

“I think three or four of them did themselves more damage than good, so I genuinely don’t think it is too late.

“I understand the clamour for him to be in that squad.”