Harry Kane and Declan Rice snubbed as England legend names surprise 'first name on the team sheet' for this summer's World Cup

Pearce has boldly claimed that England's most important player is City's January signing, Marc Guehi. The former Crystal Palace defender has won 26 caps for his country, and has already featured under manager Thomas Tuchel, though he missed the wins over Serbia and Albania with an ankle injury.

Now, Pearce has hailed his abilities ahead of the tournament at the end of the season, telling Betway: "The ability to read the game is a really big thing. You might say, well, all players can do that. But the way Manchester City play when they are spread out and getting men forward in the front line, sometimes they can be vulnerable on the counter-attack. Mark Guehi has got the ability to deal with one-on-one situations.

"In the Newcastle game on Sunday, there was probably two or three occasions where City were counter-attacked by the pace of (Anthony) Gordon and (Anthony) Elanga, but he dealt with those situations and that’s vital. But also at half-time, they bought on Abdukodir Khusanov for his added pace to deal with that as well. I wouldn’t say Guehi is a speed merchant, but he reads the game extremely well and gives himself an extra yard.

"So, from the Guehi point of view, he’s the first name on the England team sheet for me this summer and an incredible addition for Manchester City. If anything tips the balance in their favour with the league title this year, it might be him."

Guehi has been backed to play a key role in City's title challenge, as they sit five points behind Arsenal with a game in hand at the top of the Premier League table, having joined alongside Antoine Semenyo in January.

Pearce added: "I’ve got to say, in the summer I was asked who I thought would win the league and I said Liverpool. I thought they were looking almost unbeatable, but they had a real bad start to the season and probably from around October onwards, I fancied Arsenal to win the league. My mind hasn’t changed on that.

"City have looked a little bit fragile defensively and allowed too many chances on their goal over the period of time that I’ve been looking at the Premier League. That has put the question mark in my mind. But with the addition of Guehi at the back, and Semenyo coming in as well, it has really levelled the playing field in many ways. But I still feel as though Arsenal have got a really good, strong squad.

"I think the only thing that they haven’t done right this year is 45 minutes in the second half against Wolverhampton – I think they were really poor then. Aside from that, they’ve won eight out of eight in the Champions League, they’re in the final of the Carabao Cup, they’ve got a decent draw in the FA Cup and they’re top of the league.

"It’s very difficult to criticise and I know people in the media are trying to heap pressure on Arsenal. With the pressure coming from Manchester City, it’s an intriguing title race for all of us to watch, but I still fancy Arsenal. As long as they’re strong enough within the dressing room, I think they’ll win the league."

England boss Tuchel has hailed the impact of Guehi within his squad.

He said: "It’s the example of how the boys were in this camp, exactly like this. They put their personal interests aside. He was the best team-mate possible and had a fantastic performance. Very strong for Crystal Palace and showed it today on the pitch."

England have warm-up friendlies to navigate before the World Cup; they first play Uruguay and Japan in March, before heading to Florida to face Costa Rica on June 10. At the tournament, they will play Croatia, Ghana, and Panama in Group L.