Martin Keown urges England to drop Manchester United star for Anthony Gordon

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown believes Gareth Southgate should drop Manchester United's Marcus Rashford from his next England squad and replace him with Newcastle United's Anthony Gordon.

Rashford has started this season much quieter than he did last year. After being asked to fill in at centre forward due to injury issues, the 25-year-old has switched back to his more preferred role on the wing and looks better for it.

However, he has only managed one goal and two assists in his opening seven matches in all competitions. Meanwhile, Gordon has begun this campaign much better than he did last year but has only notched one more goal than Rashford.

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According to Keown, this is enough reasoning for the 22-year-old to be preferred to the United man in the next England squad for their friendly against Australia and Euro 2024 qualifier vs Italy.

Explaining his opinion, the pundit told talkSPORT: "[Calling up Gordon] has to come into Gareth Southgate’s thought process. I’m not suggesting he starts ahead of Jack Grealish or Bukayo Saka or Phil Foden.

"But this is a player that is deserving of making the next step. I would take Marcus Rashford out of the England squad, then.

"The competition is very steep in those positions. On the left-hand side, okay, Rashford gives you that explosion of pace. But in terms of his all-round game, Gordon has improved enormously. The quality of his play now, the quality, the passes.

"He’s a player who hasn’t always applied himself but now you see him with a good pre-season behind him. He was outstanding for the U21s in the summer, and there has to be that pathway to the