Chelsea hero Eddie Newton, who now coaches Trabzonspor in Turkey, did not play for England's senior team before hanging up his boots at the age of 30 having suffered with a persistent knee injury.
Newton's former teammate at Chelsea, Scott Minto believes the London-born midfielder of Nigerian descent would have been an England international if not for his injury.
The Trabzonspor manager, who was capped twice by England U21s, is famous at The Blues for scoring against Middlesbrough in the 1997 FA Cup final.
"Eddie was the original Makelele. He was that holding midfielder, who I'm telling you would have played for England many times if it wasn't for his knee injury," Minto told tribalfootball.com.
"His knee cut short his career by years. And that FA Cup run that we went on to win, Ruud realised he was so important.
"His knee cut short his career by years. And that FA Cup run that we went on to win, Ruud realised he was so important.
"The FA Cup rounds were every three weeks, so Eddie wouldn't play for two weeks then he'd play the game before the FA Cup game, he'd play the FA Cup round and then he had two weeks off.
"And he'd do that all the way through because Ruud realised how important he was. He was the original Makelele."
"And he'd do that all the way through because Ruud realised how important he was. He was the original Makelele."
Newton made over 180 appearances in all competitions during a 14-year affiliation with Chelsea, winning the FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
Igho Kingsley
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