Xabi Alonso has already named the underrated England player who he thinks could’ve fitted into Spain’s successful teams between 2008 and 2012.
Alonso, 43, is widely regarded as one the best midfielders of his generation having played for Liverpool in the Premier League, Real Madrid in La Liga and Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga as well as representing Spain 114 times.
During his career, he shared a dressing room with Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano at Liverpool, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema at Los Blancos and the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and David Silva with Spain.
He also faced Paul Scholes and Frank Lampard, who – alongside Gerrard – are considered to be the best three English midfielders of their generation.
Although it was another former Three Lions star that Alonso claimed would fit into Spain’s side.
“John Terry, Stevie Gerrard and Wayne Rooney are the obvious names when you think of the important players for England,” Alonso said when speaking to The Times in 2010.
“If they are on top of their game and if Carrick plays, because for me he is a top player, then England will have a chance [at the 2010 World Cup].
Xabi Alonso in action against Michael Carrick (Credit:Getty)
“If Carrick plays for the national team the way that he does for Manchester United, then it would be very good news for England. I think that he could easily fit into the Spanish system because I really like the way he plays.
“He reads the game so well, he is always ahead of what is going to happen and he is always in the right position. When he gets the ball, he plays it easy and he is available to his team-mates all the time.
“For me, he has the profile to play for Barcelona or any of the Spanish teams.”
Carrick was often an unsung hero of Sir Alex Ferguson‘s Manchester United side between 2006 and 2018, a period in which he helped the Red Devils win five Premier League titles, one FA Cup and a Champions League crown, just to name a few of his many accolades.
And despite his achievements at club level he was capped just 34 times by England and struggled to nail down a place in the Three Lions’ starting XI.
Speaking to BBC Sport in 2018, the former midfielder even explained how joining the national team set up was “almost depressing”.
“I had been in the squad a long time, I’ll be honest I was finding it hard going away with England,” Carrick said.
“I didn’t mind going away with United in pre-season for three weeks or whatever and then coming back but going with England it was almost depressing in a way – it made me really down.
“I came to the point where I thought I can’t do that again and people will be saying pull yourself together and be grateful for it.
“I understood the position I was in, the privileged position I was in, but I just found it so hard and I couldn’t deal with it anymore.
“I was depressed at times. I told the FA, ‘Look please don’t pick me.'”
