England manager Gareth Southgate has praised Jack Grealish’s fine form but believes that no one, including the Aston Villa midfielder, can be compared to Paul Gascoigne.
Grealish has impressed this season, helping his club side Aston Villa make a bright start to the campaign – which included beating Premier League champions Liverpool 7-2.
The midfielder’s form has seen him called up to the England squad and he shone as the Three Lions beat Wales 3-0 on Thursday.
Grealish’s performance against Wales led to him being compared to former midfielder Gascoigne, who played alongside Southgate.
The 25-year-old confessed he was delighted to be compared to Gascoigne and Southgate praised his display against Wales too.
The England boss, however, is wary about comparing Grealish to Gascoigne – with both players’ talents so unique.
“I am very conscious that I don’t want to be dampening the enthusiasm for Jack,” said Southgate. “I have answered honestly. I always answer honestly about people.
“When you are talking about Gascoigne, there is not a player in English history that was at that level in my opinion. But I don’t want that to seem as a criticism of Jack.
“I played with [Paul] Scholes, who was phenomenal. [Wayne] Rooney, who was phenomenal. [Steve] Gerrard, who was phenomenal. [David] Beckham, who was phenomenal. You could go on.
“They were amazing attacking players, who won Champions Leagues, went on to 100 caps for England and broke goalscoring records.
In Pictures | England vs Wales | 08/10/2020
“In many ways, I just feel Gascoigne is so unique and was such an incredible player, it is a bit like talking about Bobby Moore.
“I think what we have to say is I think young players who come through, you shouldn’t burden them with tagging them and comparing them to somebody else. They are unique, their own talents are unique.
“Jack has a style that is different to all of those players that I have mentioned, and all of the other players in our current squad.
“I thought he handled that question the other day [about being compared to Gascoigne] really well, very maturely.
“I kind of understood some of the comparison, but I just think that Gascoigne as an individual was on another level to anyone I played with.”
