'Wayne Rooney's England career is over'
With pressure from the media to offer the Everton striker a recall to the England squad, World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst has urged Gareth Southgate not to do so.
Wayne Rooney scored his 200th Premier League goal on Monday night following up on his good start to the season with Everton, and he later revealed he was planning to talk to England boss Gareth Southgate.
However, Sir Geoff Hurst, who scored a hat-trick in the Wembley final for England to lift their only World Cup, has insisted Southgate should not be moved into a recall for the 31-year-old.
'He [Southgate] has made some bold decisions and I think the bold one he can make is, for me, to say it's the end of Wayne Rooney's international career', said Hurst.
'He has been an absolutely fantastic player. At club level he wasn't playing regularly for Manchester United last season, which is an indication, and if you are not playing regularly at club level you certainly should not represent England in my opinion', he added.
'I wouldn't necessary call it a bold decision to not play Wayne Rooney anymore, but if I were in charge of the national team I would call Wayne up and say, "thanks very much".
Hurst praised what Rooney had done for England: 'He has been a fantastic player, one of the greatest players in this country but old Father Time, and I have been there as a striker, comes where you lose a bit of sharpness and I think his time playing for England is over'.
However, he believes that Rooney's presence will hinder the emergence of young players. 'He has got to play a lot of games and I am delighted for Wayne going back to a club he loves. But he has to be playing over a long period of time to be successful and selected'.
'If he does it for half a season, where he's scoring goals and playing well, then maybe he could argue his case but then he's still another half a season down the road and him coming back into the squad might then be a distraction, particularly if they have done well', he concluded.