Glenn Hoddle has stated that an English player could have “walked” into the Manchester City team if they could have signed him.
In terms of having top English players at their disposal, it is tough to look past City as the team that does in the Premier League.
The likes of Phil Foden, John Stones, Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker would perhaps start for most teams in the country.
It is also worth stating that at least three out of the aforementioned names, excluding Grealish, seem highly likely to start for the Three Lions at Euro 2024.
To add to that, unless the player in question is Kylian Mbappe or the name of that ilk in their respective position, it is tough to imagine any figure coming into this City side and just starting without question.
That is due to two reasons.
Hoddle says one England player would’ve “walked” into the City team
Firstly, Pep Guardiola’s side have quality for days.
As a result, it would be disingenuous to suggest a certain player can start for them unless they are up there with one of the best of the best.
Secondly, every player at Manchester City has a designated role in the side.
With that in mind, even if the City player in question might be upgradeable, the question is whether a potential replacement can replicate their role in the team.
If yes, sure, they can get into the team.
And if not, such claims are debunked.
According to Glenn Hoddle, if Manchester City had the chance to sign Harry Kane, he would have strolled into their XI.
“He’s just got this calmness about him. He’s unflustered really, he just knows what he’s good at, left foot, right foot, headers, all-round striker. The modern-day centre-forward that’s going out of the game actually”, he said on Football’s Greatest with Jeff Stelling.
“A lot of teams are not playing with that type of player. But he’s so good that he would’ve walked into Man City if they could have got him, he would go into any [team], like Munich.”
In a similar vein to Glenn Hoddle, Ian Wright suggested that if Harry Kane joined Manchester City, he could score 47 goals in a single Premier League season.
Harry Kane would not have “walked” into Pep Guardiola’s side
In our view, one can still understand if Glenn Hoddle thinks Harry Kane would start for Manchester City over Erling Haaland.
Regardless of whether one prefers the Englishman or City’s number nine, there has not been much to separate them over the last two seasons.
Last season, Haaland was on a different stratosphere to most players in world football and this campaign, Kane’s goal tally of 40 goals in all competitions, which includes 33 Bundesliga strikes makes him the most in-form striker in Europe.
But even so, even the Norwegian has 31 goals in all competitions, despite suffering a major injury, which goes to show that even if the Bayern Munich striker has outperformed him, he too has remained at a world-class level.
While based on last season, Haaland would have started for any team in the world over Kane or any other goalscorer in the business.
As a result, for Glenn Hoddle to state that Harry Kane would have walked into the Manchester City XI, especially in Erling Haaland’s presence is a stretch.