Jose Mourinho urges Gareth Southgate to start 'untouchable' England talent vs Croatia

Jose Mourinho has heaped plaudits on England star Jack Grealish arguing that the 25-year-old has to start for the Three Lions against Croatia on Sunday.

The Aston Villa talisman missed a considerable part of the Premier League campaign through injury, but featured in both of Gareth Southgate’s starting lineups for the Euro 2020 warm-up matches against Austria and Romania last week.

Grealish contributed seven goals and 12 assists across all competitions last season, and Mourinho has voiced his admiration of the player – even going as far as to compare him to former Ballon d’Or winner Luis Figo.

Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: “Jack Grealish is untouchable and the best position for Grealish is coming in from the left.

"Grealish, for me, is tremendous and what he creates and his personality – ‘give me the ball’ – he reminds me a little bit of Luis Figo.

“I don’t like making comparisons, especially with a Golden Ball winner, but Grealish reminds me of my Figo.

“Figo, I had him in different periods in my career but I had him in his last season as a player at Inter Milan and even in his last season he was like, ‘give me the ball and I will resolve the problems for you’.

“The way Grealish gets the ball and attacks people, gets fouls, gets penalties, he’s very powerful, I like him very much.”

Grealish has won seven caps for England, but is still waiting on his first international goal.