England midfielder Jordan Henderson has described PSG’s Kylian Mbappe as the ‘best player in the world’ ahead of the Three Lions’ quarter-final clash against France.
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Henderson scored England’s first goal in the 3-0 last-16 rout of AFCON champions Senegal, with the Liverpool skipper now ready to go head-to-head with Red’s teammate and Les Blues defender Ibrahima Konate.
Konate played in all three of France’s World Cup group stage games but was left on the bench for the reigning champion’s win over Robert Lewandowski’s Poland.
But Henderson has stated he will be given no inside knowledge of how England can stop Mbappe from his club teammate.
Speaking in an interview with BeIN Sports, the 32-year-old midfielder said: ‘No I don’t think that Konaté will give us anything on Mbappé, I am sure of it.
‘A world class team, a team at world class level, Mbappé is probably in his best ever form, he’s probably the best player in the world at the moment alongside Messi.
‘Incredible player. But when you look at the team, in all the positions, the quality that is there. They are world champions right now and it will be a very difficult test for us next week.’
England and France will meet in Al Khors Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday, the same venue that entertained their superb win over Senegal that saw Henderson joined on the scoresheet by Bukayo Saka and Kane.
England manager Gareth Southgate will have to engineer a concrete defensive plan to stop Kylian Mbappe who leads the tournament golden boor race having scored five times, with two coming in their latest victory over Poland.
France were decimated by pre-tournament injuries to key players, most notably Karim Benzema, but have demonstrated their excellent strength in depth under the guidance of Didier Deschamps.
