Opinion: Is the 2018 World Cup achievable for Gray?

With the international break now in full flow, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the possibility of Demarai Gray reaching the 2018 World Cup.

The tournament is set to take place in the summer of 2018 in Russia and with Gray being part of the Under 19’s set up at the moment, a full international cap may not be too far away.

However, should he want to progress to that stage, there are a few barriers that he has to break through in my opinion, and they are fairly big ones as well.

One of the biggest obstacles that I think Gray needs to overcome is getting into the England Under 21’s set up.

Currently, the Under 21’s side is very strong, but Gray must look at the likes of Nathan Redmond, who is progressing fantastically in that team, as well as in the Premier League with Norwich City.

Another person Gray must strive to be like is former MK Dons midfielder and current Tottenham Hotspur play maker Dele Alli.

The youngster, who is still only 19 like Demarai, gained his first cap for Roy Hodgson’s side in the 2-0 win over Estonia on Friday 9th of October, and that must be something that will spur Gray on.

There is no doubt that Gray has the ambition to get into the first team but he needs to continue to put in the work in order to earn that call up.

Speaking of working hard, Gray needs to improve his contribution to the Birmingham City first team. Yes, of course he is one of our star players but when you look at the plain facts, the lad has only scored eight goals in the past two seasons, which just isn’t good enough.

If he is to make it to the World Cup in Russia, he needs to improve on switching his game up. For example, he needs to look at the likes of Theo Walcott.

The Arsenal forward can play both down the middle and on the wing. In a recent interview, Blues boss Gary Rowett talked about bringing Gray into the middle where there is a little bit more space.

Should he be successful in that role then maybe we may start to see more assists in the first team as well as more goals. For me, if Gray wants to make it onto the international stage, this is one of his biggest targets that he needs to achieve.

A final thing that Gray needs to do in order to make it into the big leagues is something which many Blues fans won’t want to see happen and that is he needs to move clubs.

I know this is a very tough topic of conversation for many Blues fans, myself included, because he is one of our star assets, but there comes a time when a player needs to move on in order to further their career.

Wayne Rooney did it by moving from Everton to Manchester United, Joe Hart did it by moving from Shrewsbury Town to Manchester City and it may be the case that Demarai Gray has to move to a big club in order to get himself known in the bigger picture.

It is well documented that the Championship isn’t as big a league as the Premier League and I think if Gray was in the top division they Hodgson would most certainly notice him more.

Another example of players moving on to get noticed is Alli. I have already mentioned his move from League One to the Premier League and look at where it has go him.

If Gray moved up a division either with Blues or with another club, then for me, I think it wouldn’t be long until we saw him ripping the international stage apart.

The answer to my original question, is the 2018 World Cup achievable for Gray? I think yes it is but there is still an awful lot of work that the teenager has to do in order to get there.

Blues fans, what do you think of my comments? Do you think Gray could make it to the 2018 World Cup? Or is it too soon for him? Let us know in the comment section down below!