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#3 Mason Mount | England, Chelsea
People speak about Phil Foden and Jack Grealish being important players for England at Euro 2020, but I’m going with Mason Mount. He’s full of energy and a proper player who is coming on the back of an extraordinary season for Chelsea. In major tournaments like Euro 2020, defenders tend to double up on attackers who could cause their teams problems.
The likes of Foden and Grealish could well be double-teamed, opening up space for Mount to wreak havoc from a deeper midfield position. I remember in my playing career when John Barnes was often slated for his England performances, but the truth is that he was doubled up by opposition defenders and always had two players on him.
Mount is one of Gareth Southgate’s favorite players and is likely to start every game for England. Usually, you aren’t going to get doubled up while playing as a deeper midfielder, so he could play a big role for the Three Lions at Euro 2020.
#2 Bruno Fernandes | Portugal, Manchester United
When you play for Portugal, it goes without saying that everything has to go through Cristiano Ronaldo. Bruno Fernandes, though, plays like he does for Manchester United and doesn’t feel the need to always give the ball to the Portugal captain.
I mentioned earlier about attacking players being doubled up, but Portugal are likely to bypass this due to their star-studded front four of Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota, Bernardo Silva and Fernandes. With many of their match-winners in attack, Fernandes is the one I’m tipping to emerge as Portugal’s Player of the Tournament.
He plays positive football and won’t hide or play it safe when things are going against him. Both Fernandes and Cancelo were absolutely unbelievable in the friendly against Israel and could play starring roles for Portugal at Euro 2020.
#1 Memphis Depay | Netherlands, Lyon
I love Memphis Depay’s story. It didn’t work out for him at Manchester United, but he’s gone to Lyon and produced consistently at the highest level. He’s blossomed as a footballer and proved exactly how good he is after a tumultuous spell in England. Memphis is full of confidence and is coming on the back of an impressive season - he’s absolutely flying!
He wasn’t at his best against Scotland last week, but he scored two goals to salvage a 2-2 draw for Holland ahead of Euro 2020. He’s the main man for Frank de Boer and things will go through him, so I expect him to have a fantastic tournament. He has matured as a player and will look to take on more responsibility in the games ahead as Holland prepare for their first major tournament since the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
So, these are my five picks ahead of Euro 2020. It would’ve been a bit lazy just to name five of the best players in Europe, so I arrived at this after giving it a lot of thought. Belgium’s Youri Tielemans and Italy’s Federico Chiesa are names I considered, but they narrowly missed out on the top five.
Barring Memphis Depay, none of the other players are the star attractions for their respective sides at Euro 2020, so they aren’t going to be part of team talks ahead of important games. They are tidy players nonetheless and I expect all of them to light up Euro 2020 with their brilliance.
