Joe Willock admits he is dreaming big with Newcastle United and is refusing to shy away from talk of an England call-up this summer.
Toon legend Alan Shearer has urged England boss Gareth Southgate to get himself up to St James' Park and check out stars like Willock ahead of June's pair of Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia. Willock could hardly have done more in the game against Manchester United to underline his qualities.
When asked about England, Willock, the hero against Man United after netting the opener, said: "Yes, of course, that’s my dream. I want to add more goals and assists to my game, and I feel like it will come.
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"If I keep chipping away in training and working hard, I feel like it will definitely come. I’m a unique midfielder and I’ve got all the attributes to definitely play at the highest level, which is obviously playing for your country."
When asked what he meant by his description of being unique, Willock said: "I feel like I can add a lot of things to the team that are very good. I believe in my abilities, so hopefully, I can play at the highest level."
Speaking about Newcastle's 2-0 win over Man United, Willock reflected: "It was a brilliant performance. We wanted to channel the disappointment we had in the cup final into this game, and I feel like we did that. We were electric, we fed off the fans and it's a brilliant three points from a 2-0 win. You can't ask for much more."
And on Newcastle's style of play, which resulted in plenty of plaudits after 22 goal attempts, Willock said: "That’s the game we want to play. We want to play at the highest tempo possible and I feel like we executed that today. We have the players to do that so I was really happy that we executed that."
