As England ramp up their preparations for Euro 2024, one player has been tipped to land a mind-blowing £375,000-a-week contract once he returns from Germany.
Gareth Southgate and the 26-man Three Lions squad travel to Germany on Monday ahead of their first Euros game against Serbia next weekend.
Despite a shock and disappointing 1-0 defeat to Iceland in their final warm-up match, England are one of the favourites to win the tournament.
England have gone 58 years without a major trophy but reached the latter stages of the last World Cup – just as they did in 2018 – while they were runners-up at the previous European Championships, a penalty shootout defeat to Italy denying them a long-awaited trophy.
One of the key members of England’s Euro 2024 squad is Phil Foden, who The Sun say is set to become the highest-paid British player in history.
The 24-year-old has just enjoyed his best season to date, scoring 29 goals and making 13 assists to help Manchester City win a record-breaking fourth successive Premier League title and his sixth overall.
Foden, who was named the Premier League player of the season, still has three years on his current contract but Man City are ready to reward him for his sensational form with a huge pay-rise.
It is claimed the playmaker’s new contract will be worth around £375,000-a-week before bonuses, making him the highest-paid British player in history and putting him on par with City team-mates Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne.
There has been no suggestion that Foden could leave his boyhood club, who he first starting starring for in 2017, but the new contract will fend off any potential interest from clubs like Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
As well as lifting six Premier League trophies, Foden has won nine other major trophies – including the Champions League in 2023 – and looks set to threaten Ryan Giggs’ all-time record of 14 Premier League crowns.
England beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 in their penultimate warm-up game but could not break down Iceland in front of a dejected Wembley, Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson scoring the winner for the visitors.
‘We know the performance wasn’t good enough but I think we needed the game. So many of the players needed the game,’ Southgate said.
‘There are a lot of players whose minutes we are managing who have had a break since the end of the club season where you are trying to refresh them but they are out of rhythm.
‘It was obviously a disjointed and disappointing performance and we didn’t show enough character. Actually I think it is a really good focus for us ahead of the tournament.
‘Everybody is saying we are going to go there and walk through and have no problems and the reality of international football isn’t that. We have got to be far better without the ball than we were today and then we have to show more composure.’
After kick-starting their Euros campaign against Serbia, England take on Denmark and Slovenia as they look to progress to the knockout stages from Group C.
World Cup runners-up France, hosts Germany, 2016 champions Portugal and three-time winners Spain are among the other favourites to win Euro 2024.