James Garner keen to live up to ‘mini-Valverde’ tag after late England call

Everton midfielder’s spirit and intelligence earned him another chance and he is eager to test himself against Spain in the Nations League on Saturday “It’s a very good comparison,” James Garner says, and he is not kidding.

It came from Thomas Tuchel in March after the England manager had watched the Everton midfielder impress on his international debut against Uruguay . He was up against Federico Valverde and Tuchel went big with his praise. Garner was a “mini Valverde”, he said after the 1-1 draw at Wembley. It was surely too much, despite the prefix that Tuchel attached, yet it was possible to see where he was…