Joe Cole raves about Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley after his England performance

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Ex-Chelsea ace Joe Cole raved about current Blues midfielder Ross Barkley following his performance for England in the win over Montenegro on Monday night.

The 25-year-old scored two and assisted another in a comprehensive 5-1 victory for Gareth Southgate’s side.

England kept up their perfect start to European Championship qualifying, as goals from Michael Keane, Barkley (two), Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling cancelled out an early Montenegro opener.

Barkley impressed off the bench against Czech Republic last week in an England shirt and was even better in his latest outing.

The attacking midfielder delivered an inch-perfect free-kick to assist teammate Keane for an equalising header.

He then netted with a close-range volley after getting on the end of an effort from Chelsea teammate Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Barkley then arrived into the penalty area in the second-half to smash in another in emphatic fashion.

Cole, who was appearing as a pundit on ITV, believes that the midfielder’s international performances should help his prospects at Stamford Bridge.

“He (Barkley) needs to add arriving in the box like Frank Lampard-esque, he’s got the technique, got the size, got the physicality and he’s starting to knit them all together,” Cole said on ITV One’s televised coverage of England v Montenegro (9:45pm, 25 March).

“For me he is one that has played himself into the England team, I think he’s got every chance of playing himself into the Chelsea team as well because I’m a great fan of his and I think he’s got all the attributes to go and become a top, world-class midfielder.”

Barkley has had a mixed season under manager Maurizio Sarri, which has seen him play regularly in the first team but have to rotate with loanee Mateo Kovacic on a consistent basis.

The English playmaker has shown in the last week that he’s a serious goal threat and can be creative, but needs to try replicate that for Chelsea if he is to nail down a permanent spot.

He is currently justifying the £15million (BBC) the Blues paid for him in January 2018, but needs to try prove he is a potential bargain by taking his club form up another level.