Gareth Southgate happy with wherever Jadon Sancho plays next

He has excelled in Germany since a 2017 move from Manchester City but Southgate believes wherever the 20-year-old ends up it will still aid England.

"From a personal point of view, for England, whichever route opens up is positive. He'll play at Dortmund, he is well looked after by the staff and they give the right messages," he said.

"There isn't a downside for us if he stays with Dortmund but if we see him in the Premier League that brings different opportunities to see him in a different environment and how he adapts to that.

"The most important thing is that he keeps playing regularly, at his age that's key to him learning and improving.

"The key is he has to play football. The beauty of him playing at Dortmund is he has played regularly and he has played in a team expected to hit a certain level.

"Champions League football is another bonus and that need to be challenging Bayern Munich all the way.

"The Premier League would provide him with a different challenge, the depth of the league is a bit more intense – in terms of the quality."

Southgate has not spoken to Sancho since the Bundesliga resumed, although checked in with him when Dortmund had returned to training.

He is also staying clear of any transfer talk with the wideman.

"I'm always available to players who want to speak and need advice in whatever areas of their life but I don't push that when I'm conscious there's a lot of noise around a player," he said.

"I don't think it's for me to tell him what to do. They should make their own decisions and those decisions won't influence our thinking too much, in his case anyway."