England manager Gareth Southgate has been full of praise for Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka in a recent interview.

Saka has endured a rough stint with England recently. The winger excelled in the early stages of Euro 2020 but then, along with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, missed penalties in the final vs Italy which cost England the win.

Saka has since returned to the England fold and has not been at his best. He and several other players were especially poor during the Three Lions’ 1-1 draw with Germany in the Nations League earlier this week.

Following that game, Saka has come in for a fair bit of criticism. But when speaking ahead of England’s next match, Southgate lavished Saka in praise:

“He’s a fantastic talent,” Southgate said. “He’s one that’s possibly less appreciated because his profile isn’t quite the same as some of our other attacking players. He just quietly goes about his job, but I think you see the consistency of his performances and quality of his play.”

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England will face off with Italy in their 3rd Nations League tie of the current international break.

Topping the group is not beyond them just yet, but anything other than a win vs a floundering Italy side on Saturday will be a big blow for England.

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