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Former Aston Villa and Spurs forward Darren Bent has tipped Luton midfielder Ross Barkley to have an outside chance of making the England squad for the Euro Championship Finals this summer.

The 30-year-old has won 33 caps for his country already since being given his Three Lions debut by Roy Hodgson back in September 2013, coming on in a 4-0 World Cup qualifying victory against Moldova. Eleven of those 33 have occurred following current manager Gareth Southgate’s appointment in 2016, although he hasn’t been selected since October 2019 when he scored twice in a 6-0 victory over Bulgaria. Arriving at Kenilworth Road in the summer, the former Everton and Chelsea midfielder has been in absolutely stunning form for the past few months, with some wonderful displays when dominating against the likes of Declan Rice, Rodri, Connor Gallagher and Bruno Guimaraes.

It means he is starting to be talked about as being in the for an England recall ahead of the next two matches, friendly internationals with Brazil and Belgium in March. However, Bent, who played 13 times for his country, scoring four goals, believes Barkley could also be on plane to Germany, as when picking an XI containing players he feels should be selected on talkSPORT last week, he said: “Ross Barkley, he’s been an international player and he’s playing fantastically well. Gareth likes him, he’s playing week in week out and he’s playing at a high level, I think he’s got a chance.”

Ross Barkley looks to get forward for the Hatters - pic: Liam Smith

Town chief Rob Edwards, who snapped up Barkley as a free agent after he left Ligue 1 side Nice in the summer, preferred not to be drawn when asked whether he felt a national call could be in the pipeline, adding: “He’s playing really well, he’s really important to us. I think everyone who’s watched us over the last couple of months would see just how good he has been, how influential he is for us as well.

“As far as England goes, that’s not my decision and I’m not going to start creating headlines for him right now, he’ll do that with his performances. He’s just got to keep his head on it and keep doing well for us which he is doing very, very well. I think he’s just enjoying his football, we love him, we’ve given him a nice home, we really value him and he’s really repaying that as well.”

Ex-Spurs and Aston Villa forward tips Luton midfielder Barkley to make England's Euro 2024 squad