Southgate 'incredible' for England, says Lionesses legend who loves Bellingham and Saka

A lifelong ambition was achieved in July when England's Lionesses beat Germany 2-1 win at Wembley to win the European Championships, a moment which has since changed the landscape for women's sport in the UK.

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The Lionesses - led by serial winner Sarina Wiegman - have since used their platform to call for change for the next generation, with the team penning an open letter to the Government calling for all young girls to have access to football in PE at school.

Winning the Euros would, ultimately, be the perfect crescendo in White's illustrious career - with the 33-year-old announcing her retirement after the final - and the former striker will go down in history as the Lionesses all-time record goal-scorer with 52 goals.

However, the emotions from this summer have quickly flooded back for White while watching England's men's team compete at the World Cup in Qatar and the former Manchester City striker believes there are similarities between Lionesses boss Wiegman and Gareth Southgate.

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Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT, White said: "Do you know what, they're both just lovely people and I think that's a big thing. They're great with communication and they really know how to talk to their players and they are really good tactically as well.

"I think they're both incredible for our national teams and hopefully, Gareth can go one step further and win a major tournament.

"That Harry Kane pass to Sterling [against Iran] was just ridiculous! I wouldn't mind that to be fair and [playing] up top with Harry Kane.

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"I'm a big fan of [Bukayo] Saka. He's just unbelievable isn't he, [in terms of] what he can create and his form for Arsenal and moving that into the England team is just incredible.

"Obviously Jude Bellingham [as well]. To have him as a midfielder and making those runs and passes and just breaking down all the play [means] he is an unbelievable player to have for us in midfield. I'd probably could just go and name all the team to be fair. I'd love to be involved in that squad and be like 10 years younger."

As well as her success at international level, White also won every domestic title in the women's game in the UK, in a career which saw her represent the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea, Notts County and Man City.

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Lionesses head coach Wiegman has spoken warmly of White even since her retirement this summer and the feeling is very much mutual.

"I actually rung her up when I was saying I was retiring and just said: 'I wish I was a little bit younger so then we could still work together,' and I could still be a part of the team and still experience her management style and her as a person really," White explains.

"She's just a really lovely person. She used to be a teacher as well, so her level of communication is so high and she's obviously come into this England team and really stamped her authority really early doors. You knew she was the leader. The players knew that and the staff knew that and it was a real great sense of togetherness that she brought and an incredible culture.

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"Obviously that philosophy of the way she wanted us to play, we all just loved it straight away. We were all like: 'Oh my god, why have you not come to be our manager earlier?!' We were kind of waiting a while to have a manager like her. What other manager has won two major tournaments back-to-back with two separate nations? It's just phenomenal really. We're all proud that she's our manager."

White's spot in the Lionesses starting eleven has since been taken by Alessia Russo, who was one of the stars of this summer's Euros thanks to her game changing impact from the substitutes bench.

The 23-year-old scored four times for England at the Euros, with her instinctive backheel against Sweden in the semi-final being named as the goal of the tournament.

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Alongside Beth Mead as well as Leah Williamson, Russo has become one of the faces of the Women's Super League in the UK and White believes there is much more to come from the Manchester United striker.

"Firstly, she's just such a lovely person. I can't speak more highly of her," White says.

"Her talent is just absolutely ridiculous. She can head a ball and she can control the ball in and around the box. I was really proud of her in the Euros and the way she came on and was just free. She really had that sense of freedom and could just express herself and that's what we wanted.

"We wanted the less experienced younger players, if they did have an opportunity to go on, to have the time of their lives and express to the world what they are about. She definitely did that.

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"Obviously, now she's got a slightly different role of that starting number nine and she's got a bit of competition now though with Rachel Daly I think and Lauren Hemp was there as well for a couple of games. I think it's a really exciting time for her. She's doing well at United as well. So, I'm a big Alessia Russo fan."

White was speaking to talkSPORT regarding new research by the Co-Op on the importance of community facilities.

Over a third of UK adults said they used community facilities to play sport when growing up and given the Lionesses letter to the Government this summer, it was a project White was keen to lend her support to.

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She finished: "It's such a massive life skill isn't it to put yourself out there and go to these local projects in your community and it's really exciting to meet new people, have those conversations and to develop those life skills that you'll need moving forward.

"For the time we are living in right now, there's a lot of loneliness and we've spoken about mental health, so for people to come together in their local communities and for these projects to be in place is incredible.

"I feel really proud to have been a part of the Lionesses and to have created that letter to the government to hopefully [provide] that want and need and cry for change for young people to have that opportunity and the equality and the inclusivity to be able play sport in local schools or in and around their communities. I think that's really important."