The Premier League is filled with some of the most spectacular players that represent European nations on the international stage.
With the European Championships set to take place in Germany this summer, a host of top players could be set to make a significant impact at the tournament following the conclusion of the English football season.
Here we have picked out several stars that could be vital this summer for nations that are seriously bidding for EURO 2024 glory.
Declan Rice
Declan Rice has been an impeccable box-to-box presence for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal team this season. For tournament favourites England he could provide a similar impact at both ends of the pitch, where he puts in the groundwork and allows others’ creativity to flourish.
The Three Lions are seen as outright frontrunners by many major bookmakers. For example, BetVictor offers them at 10/3 to lift the trophy in Germany, and like a range of reputable sites, they are offering EURO free bets in return for an initial stake on their markets for the competition this summer.
Gareth Southgate’s team are the favourites purely due to the quality they have throughout their team and Rice is a major part of that. He is a complete midfield profile that relentlessly breaks up the play yet has a knack for always being in a threatening position offensively.
????| Declan Rice warming up! #afc pic.twitter.com/CJx07Wm8Mx
— Arsenal Buzz (@ArsenalBuzzCom) March 9, 2024
The fact his £105 million move to Arsenal in the summer has been rarely brought up is indicative of how strong his performances have been when lining up alongside other world-class players.
There will almost certainly not be a midfielder at EURO 2024 that will have a high-level impact in and out of possession to rival Rice’s inevitable brilliance this summer.
Bruno Fernandes
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes is a player who is consistently brilliant for club and country which means he will likely go into the summer competition backed by a strong run of form.
He will be one of the star men for Portugal who are seen to be realistic winners this summer offered at 8/1 to win their second-ever European trophy.
Fernandes’ competitive international form has been remarkable in the last couple of years. Over the qualifying campaign for the EUROs, he scored six goals and assisted seven in 10 appearances which means he was arguably more impressive than Cristiano Ronaldo who managed 12 goal contributions.
The United playmaker also turned up with a range of stunning performances at the FIFA World Cup in 2022. He scored two and assisted three across Portugal’s four fixtures which meant he was comfortably the team’s top performer in Qatar.
Great performance today ????????
Thanks for all the support during the game and even more after the penalty. I felt that ❤️ pic.twitter.com/kf9JmFiaid— Bruno Fernandes (@B_Fernandes8) December 6, 2023
Fernandes simply contributes to the score sheet on an unrivalled level compared to the majority of midfielders across Europe regardless of the level of competition. If Portugal goes far this summer it will most likely be tangibly due to him and not the legendary Ronaldo.
The Premier League’s greatest players heading to the European Championships this year arguably come in the form of midfielders. One box-to-box engine who does it all, and a creative genius who is arguably his club and country’s most consistent individual.
Both will undoubtedly be in the running to be amongst the standout players at the tournament, if as expected their teams reach the latter stages.
