THOMAS TUCHEL is desperate for more English players to feature in the Prem as numbers have hit a record low.
Less than a QUARTER of starters in top-flight matches so far this season were eligible to play for his Three Lions.
The shock 23.2 per cent figure is a huge drop from Gareth Southgate’s reign when it was between 30 and 33 per cent — then an all-time low compared to previous years.
Asked about the record-breaking statistic, England chief Tuchel said: “I am now aware. I would love to see more English players.
“The more, the better, but I come from club football and know that no one is holding anyone back.
“If anyone deserves to play, they will play, so they have to fight for their place and they will. Quality will always find a way.”
Previous boss Southgate had often voiced concerns at having to pick from a decreasing pool of talent — and it is seemingly getting worse.
Ahead of Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier in Latvia, Tuchel pointed out he does have major players starring in other countries.
But even if they were featuring in the Prem, the overall figure would still be embarrassingly low.
The German said: “Don’t forget we’ve Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane, Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek in foreign leagues. We have influential players in France, too.
“We have enough players to compete at a high level.”
Tuchel, whose team beat Wales 3-0 on Thursday, still has some selection issues though as he left Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish out of this current squad.
Standing by that, he added: “I’m still convinced the guys in the last camp deserve to be in this one.
“They put out another great display against Wales — but the door is always open for anyone.
Former manager Gareth Southgate, who quit after Euro 2024, repeatedly voiced his concerns over the lack of home-grown players featuring in the top-flight.
In 2023, Southgate said: “The numbers are the numbers. They’re not going up.
“It has been around 32 per cent but that’s down from 35 per cent when I took over and 38 per cent in the years before so the graph is clear – there’s no argument about that.
“Twenty-eight per cent has happened in a couple of weekends in the last few weeks.
“At the moment, we are a long way behind France and Spain on those numbers and it is really interesting that Brazil, who obviously have a really powerful domestic league, now have as many players playing Champions League – or more than we have.”
Read the full article here