Wayne Rooney hails the Everton and Tottenham Hotspur youngsters.
Wayne Rooney has paid tribute to Everton midfielder Ross Barkley and his Tottenham Hotspur equivalent Dele Alli, branding the pair ‘exciting’ in an interview with the Toffees’ official website.
Barkley has emerged as one of English football’s most promising young talents in recent years and has established himself as a key figure in the Everton set-up.
The same could be said of Alli at Tottenham but the 19-year-old has less experience in the Premier League than his 22-year-old Toffees counterpart.
In any case, the pair are perhaps England’s flagship attacking midfielders and will both surely enjoy dazzling careers whatever happens.
Rooney’s path to being a household name also started at Everton, and the 30-year-old – celebrating 12 years at Manchester United this summer – says that Alli and Barkley are a dying breed of young English talents.
“There are less and less of this style of English player coming through with that sort of game you have when playing on the street,” he told Everton’s official website.
“Ross has that and Dele Alli is another. These are players that excite the fans and players they can identify with – everyone has a story about a great young lad they played against on the street.”
Barkley and Alli will most likely line up against one another on Saturday week as Everton host Tottenham on the opening day of the Premier League season.
Both operate in an advanced midfield role so they are likely to be involved with one another on the pitch all that often, but there will certainly friendly competition to out-perform one another on the day.
Everton’s Ross Barkley celebrates with Gerard Deulofeu after scoring their second goal
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