STEVE McClaren sent out mixed signals when he announced his England squad for the games against Brazil on Friday night and Estonia next week.

After a terrific debut for England's B team at Turf Moor last Friday night, David Bentley deservedly received his first call-up to the senior squad less than 24 hours later.

However, the Blackburn midfielder's elevation to the senior set-up was somewhat overshadowed by the return of England's other DB7, David Beckham.

Only time will tell if McClaren was right to recall the fading Real Madrid star, barely nine months after he appeared to draw a line under his international career.

The media have been clamouring for Beckham's return for some time now, and, judging by his performance for Madrid at the weekend, he probably deserves to be recalled, particularly as Aaron Lennon is struggling with an injury.

At the end of the day, I believe you should pick the strongest possible squad available to you, and you'd have to say that Beckham merits inclusion in McClaren's plans at the moment.

However, such a move is only a short-term measure in my view, and the real future for England is someone like Bentley.

Following an outstanding season for Blackburn, the 22-year-old deserves his chance on the international stage, but with Beckham back in the fold again, he may have to be content with a watching brief for now.

Yet regardless of whether or not he gets his chance over the next week or so, I firmly believe Bentley has a bright international future ahead of him.

I know many people, including Mark Hughes, have already compared him to a young David Beckham and I can see exactly where they are coming from in saying that.

There are few finer crosser's of a ball in world football than Beckham, so it's a major complement to mention Bentley's name in the same breath.

Right now, you'd have to say he's still got some way to go to match Becks in that department, but he definitely has the potential to do it, and he appears to be developing at Blackburn in the same way that Beckham did in his early days at Manchester United.

The pair also share that same work ethic, although Bentley has more stamina than Beckham, who, at 32, is 10 years his senior.

Where Bentley has the edge for me is his ability to beat a man. Beckham very rarely went past people, even in his heyday, but Bentley has that quality in his locker, and he's also quicker than Beckham ever was, too.

Of course, he's still got plenty to do before he emulates the career that Beckham has enjoyed.

But whereas Beckham is preparing for his England swansong, before he disappears to LA Galaxy this summer and football's equivalent of Sunset Bouvelard, Bentley has it all before him.