"?Arsenal legend Thierry Henry says Wayne Rooney's experience of international tournaments will be vital for England's youthful looking Euro 2016 squad.
The former France international told the "?Daily Express that 30-year-old Rooney would be of particular importance to those representing the Three Lions from Tottenham Hotspur, who Henry described as "mentally weak."
Spurs had been in with a chance of last season's Premier League title, but Mauricio Pochettino's men ran out of steam in the final weeks of the campaign before eventually losing out to Leicester City.
Henry said: "Wayne Rooney is going to be key, to be in and around those youngsters.
"We saw with Tottenham recently that some of their youngsters can be mentally weak sometimes.
"Rooney, who has the experience of playing in a lot of tournaments and being sent off against Portugal, is vital in that dressing room.
"How many guys have been in big tournaments before?"
Tottenham are represented by five players in England manager Roy Hodgson's 23-man party for the upcoming competition in France.
Harry Kane, Danny Rose, Kyle Walker, Dele Alli and Eric Dier are all expected to play significant roles throughout the tournament after being involved heavily during England's qualifying campaign.
And 38-year-old Henry, who was the scourge of Spurs during his eight-year spell with Arsenal, picked out one of the White Hart Lane-based side's players as a crucial component of Hodgson's squad going into Euro 2016.
"[In Harry Kane] you finally have a guy who can bail you out in some games," he added.
"If you are defending you know he can always score at any moment."
England will face Russia, Wales and Slovakia in Euro 2016 Group B on June 11, June 16 and June 20 respectively.