England manager Thomas Tuchel has said Phil Foden does not have a guaranteed place in his World Cup squad.
The 25-year-old Manchester City midfielder was the only player to start both games in England’s final camp before Tuchel selects his 24-man squad.
But he failed to fill the void left by striker Harry Kane’s absence when he played in a false nine role in the defeat by Japan on Tuesday.
And when asked after the game whether there are doubts about the player’s spot in the World Cup squad, the German said: “Well, it’s not a guarantee that he will come.”
Tuchel said Foden was “excellent” in training but “struggles to show it on the pitch”.
“Obviously he didn’t have a lot of minutes for City recently, then he came to camp with the brightest smile and was so good in training,” the England boss added.
“And I thought he will just surprise us and will play with the same verve and excitement but, yeah, he struggles to have the full impact.”
Tuchel must submit his final squad to Fifa by 30 May before they begin their World Cup campaign against Croatia on 17 June in Arlington, Texas.
Foden was deployed as a false nine against Japan but made little impression before Tuchel brought on striker Dominic Solanke in the 59th minute.
He has started just four of Manchester City’s past 15 games and has not scored since 14 December, when he finished a run of six goals in five games.
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