Cesc Fabregas has named the one England star he wishes could play for Spain at Euro 2024.
With Euro 2024 kicking off in Germany in a little over two months' time, talk is ramping up about which players are going to light up the tournament and which team is going to go the distance.
England and France are widely regarded as the two favourites, although Spain could be a smart outside shout.
La Roja dominated international football between 2008 and 2012, winning two European Championships either side of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
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That team was stacked with legendary players, but the current generation of talents have so far failed to match the lofty heights reached by their predecessors.
Spain were eliminated in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup, and two years later exited Euro 2016 at the round of 16 stage.
At the 2018 World Cup they suffered last-16 penalty shootout heartbreak at the hands of hosts Russia, with history repeating itself in 2022 with a shootout defeat to Morocco at the same stage.
Spain were perhaps unfortunate not to beat Italy in the semi-finals of Euro 2020, even if they did need an extra-time win and penalty shootout triumph to get there.
The fact that Spain have not won a tournament knockout match inside 90 minutes since 2012 suggests something is missing from their squad.
Speaking exclusively to SPORTbible, World Cup and Euros winner Cesc Fabregas admitted he would love it if Spain could 'borrow' Manchester City's Phil Foden for Euro 2024.
"I would go for more of an offensive players, more of a number 10. I think I would go for [Phil] Foden," Fabregas said.
"A Foden type of player, I think we need it in Spain."
The former Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona man explained that the skillset Foden has developed under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola - including his ability to play in tight spaces - would help him give something that Spain are perhaps missing.
"I think we need talent in midfield for Spain. The type of player who makes the difference between the lines, to make things happen, who can score goals, make assists and have end product," Fabregas said.
"I think we do need that in the national team."
Foden is enjoying the best season of his career, having scored 21 goals and provided 10 assists in 41 games in all competitions for City.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car, a proud sponsor of the UEFA Europa League, is excited to introduce the Enterprise 'Rent-A-Player' competition, providing five-a-side football teams across Europe with the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have a European legend join their squad for one night only. The competition kicked off on Monday and will close this Friday, with applicants in the UK able to enter via enterpriserent-a-player.com.
Topics: Phil Foden, Spain, Cesc Fabregas, Euro 2024, England, Manchester City, Pep Guardiola
Alex Brotherton