Manchester City starlet Nico O’Reilly has a “ridiculously strong chance” of being England’s left-back at the 2026 World Cup, Citizens expert Steven McInerney tells Sports Mole.
Manchester City starlet Nico O’Reilly has a “ridiculously strong chance” of being England‘s left-back at the 2026 World Cup, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.
The 20-year-old academy graduate has developed into a first-team regular for Man City since breaking into Pep Guardiola’s side almost 12 months ago, and his impressive rise was rewarded with his first senior call-up to the England squad last month.
Man City have never lost a Premier League game in which O’Reilly has started (13 – W11 D2) since his full to-flight debut in February, and the highly-rated youngster continues to excel at left-back, despite featuring regularly as an attacking midfielder at academy level.
This month, O’Reilly scored his first goal of the season for Man City in a 3-1 Premier League win over Bournemouth, before assisting Jeremy Doku’s goal and keeping a clean sheet in the Citizens’ statement 3-0 home victory over reigning champions Liverpool last weekend.
O’Reilly has retained his place in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for this month’s international break and is in contention to earn his first senior cap in either of the Three Lions’ final two World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania.
McInerney has previously stated that O’Reilly has all the attributes to become a “perfect” full-back for Man City, and he now believes that the youngster should be given the chance to represent England.
Why “remarkable” O’Reilly has strong chance of becoming England’s left-back
The fact that O’Reilly is currently “one of the most consistent players in the second-best team in the league” is one reason why McInerney feels that the Man City talent should be selected at left-back for England.
McInerney has also talked up O’Reilly’s goal threat as a left-back and has praised Guardiola’s coaching ability, having watched the youngster transform into a physically strong player who enjoys defending and “revels those defensive battles”.
“I’m delighted for Nico O’Reilly, somebody who was absolutely remarkable against Liverpool,” McInerney told Sports Mole. “I think the final version of him, if he’s playing in that (advanced left-back) role, is 10 goals a season, truly. He gets into those positions so often, he should be aiming for that.
“I think his development has been absolutely remarkable. He’s one of the most consistent players in the second-best team in the league currently. I think he really is that good.
“I think he’s been fantastic. I think he’s got a ridiculously strong chance of being England’s left-back at the World Cup, which is a wild thing to say. I think Nico O’Reilly would’ve laughed in your face if you told him 12 months ago that you might be starting for England at the World Cup as a left-back.
“It’s an absurd turnaround, but it’s yet another vindication of Guardiola’s coaching ability. I know he sort of played there because everyone was injured when he first got his chance and so on, but it takes an incredible football mind in Guardiola to see that skill set he’s got and convert him into that.
“Guardiola has unlocked a bit of grit in O’Reilly’s game”
“I watched Nico O’Reilly when he first burst through at Under-18s level. He’s tall, of course, but he was a floaty No.10, flicks and tricks, scores spectacular goals. You watch him now, Guardiola and the coaching team have obviously unlocked a bit of grit in his game somewhere, because he absolutely revels those defensive battles.
“You can put any [technical] midfielder at left-back or right-back or whatever, and they’ll do a decent job, [but] you can’t teach them how to have that defensive instinct, in the way that you can’t teach a player to be a great goalscorer, I don’t think you can. I think they either are or they aren’t.
“I truly don’t think you can teach someone to enjoy defending. You can make them competent at it, but Nico O’Reilly very obviously enjoys defending. That guy is just naturally good at stopping people. I’m not sure if he knew just how good he’d be at that.
“I think some players are big and they don’t use it very well. It strikes to me that Nico O’Reilly quite enjoys how imposing he is as a player. He’s pushing people off the ball with those long, rangy legs.
“The amount of times he just put his legs around [Mohamed] Salah and just nicked the ball off him. Salah’s one of the greatest to ever do it, not in the Premier League, just full stop. He’s an all-time special footballer. I know he’s getting older and so on, but he’s still Mo Salah.
“I just don’t see how you can ask for anything more from a man of that age, of that inexperience still. The levels that [O’Reilly is] playing at, the physicality, the consistency to bomb up and down the pitch, sometimes to underlap, sometimes to overlap. Him and Doku on that (left) side, they’re an absolute lock for Manchester City right now.”
O’Reilly “better” than Lewis-Skelly and “should be a lock” in Tuchel’s England team
McInerney has also highlighted how there are a lack of standout left-back candidates for England, with O’Reilly expected to compete with Newcastle United’s Dan Burn – primarily a centre-back – and Tottenham Hotspur’s Djed Spence – primarily a right-back – for the left-back berth this month, after Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly was left out of Tuchel’s squad.
“I look around and who are the alternatives for him at the left-back? [Burn is] a centre-back. [Spence is] a guy who wants to play at right-back. Lewis-Skelly doesn’t plays for Arsenal. Luke Shaw‘s not on the scene anymore. I don’t think there’s any real [options].
“If you are playing for Manchester City, week in, week out, at left-back and you’re English, you should start for England. I know that sounds incredibly reductive, but it’s almost a given. It just is, because there’s no-one else.
“Dan Burn is obviously not a left-back. I mean it in a polite sense, but it’s just a stupid idea playing Dan Burn at left-back regularly. He’s just there because he can stand there.
“Spence wants to be a right-back. Lewis-Skelly’s not playing, and I think if anything as well, defensively, I think O’Reilly is better than Lewis-Skelly. I think the ceiling limit as well for what Nico O’Reilly can offer going forward (is greater). As I said, I think he can get 10-15 goals a season. He is a natural goalscorer. I’ve seen it at academy level. I know he can do that.
“His fitness is not fully there yet because he’s learning that and it’s a knackering role, but I think he’s an absolute lock. Unless something goes disastrously wrong, he should be a lock for that left-back role.”
Meanwhile, McInerney has also delivered his verdict on how Man City playmaker Phil Foden can become a “world-class winner” for England after returning to Tuchel’s squad this month.
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