Former Arsenal attacker Paul Merson has gone on to hit out at England manager Gareth Southgate for not calling up Ross Barkley to the national team.

Ross Barkley is arguably one of the finest young players to have emerged out of England in recent times and the midfielder most certainly has the potential to become a world class player in his career.

Unfortunately though, Barkley has not quite found consistency to take his game to the next level and the 22-year-old has blown hot and cold throughout the current campaign for Everton.

Barkley has been in decent form in recent times though and as a result, it came as a huge surprise to see the attacking midfielder being left out of the England national team for the ongoing international round of fixtures.

Ex-Arsenal man Paul Merson has not been left too impressed with caretaker manager Gareth Southgate’s decision to omit Barkley though and has gone on to state that the national team will not progress unless such talented young players are given a chance to prove their worth.

Merson told the Daily Star, “I was shocked Barkley wasn’t in the latest squad for last night’s game with Scotland and Tuesday’s friendly with Spain. He had a blinder against West Ham and surely he’s going to be around for years to come. You’ve got to pick players like that for the future.

“If he was Spanish you can guarantee he’d already be playing regularly for Spain. We’re wasting his talent. Other countries must laugh at us when they see how we treat kids like Barkley.”