Four youngsters who could inspire England to future glory

It’s finally over. After 23 days, 6 games, 12 goals and even a penalty shoot-out victory, England’s World Cup adventure came to an end last night as Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions were defeated 2-1 in the World Cup semi-final by a more experienced Croatia side after extra-time. Sure, they still have to play Belgium in the 3rd/4th place play-off match, but nobody really cares about that, do they?

With all of that said, this isn’t the time for England fans to feel down. Not only did Southgate’s squad surpass all expectation – most observers saw England as a quarter-final side at best in Russia – but they’re still a very young and largely inexperienced team who can and most likely will improve before the European Championships in 2020 as well as the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

One of the biggest positives? England’s youth teams have utterly bossed the world stage recently, winning the U20 and U17 World Cup tournaments and the U19 European Championships in 2017, and have most recently retained the U21 Toulon Tournament trophy this summer.

That means there’s a long list of talent who could break into England’s senior team at some point in the future – and here are 5 talented youngsters who could help England end their 52 years of hurt next time around.

#1: Ryan Sessegnon

Ryan Sessegnon

Part of the England U19 squad that won the European Championships in 2017, Ryan Sessegnon was a name rumoured to be included in Southgate’s squad for Russia, although that turned out not to be the case in the end. The idea wasn’t far-fetched though considering the Fulham man’s talents – he simply tore opponents to shreds last season in the Championship, scoring 16 goals and assisting in 8 without missing a single game, all at the age of just 18.

Perhaps the one thing that kept Southgate from including the youngster as a wild card was his lack of experience, particularly at the very top level. After assisting in the winner in the play-off final against Aston Villa though, Sessegnon will now have a chance to prove his talents in the Premier League. After being linked with the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham, it now appears that the starlet will stay at Craven Cottage, and that’s probably a good thing – it guarantees him first-team football and a hell of a lot of experience.

The best thing about Sessegnon? He’s a natural left-footer who can play as a left-back, left-winger or a left wing-back. And with England’s current first choice left wing-back Ashley Young probably at the end of his international career, questions around the fitness of Danny Rose, and Luke Shaw being totally out of the picture, if Sessegnon can get off to a quick start in 2018/19 he could easily be fast-tracked into England’s first team. And given his career trajectory thus far, would you bet against him?

#2: Mason Mount

Mason Mount

After their loss to Croatia, many observers seem to have identified the major weakness when it comes to England as being a lack of a natural playmaker – a classical #10. Some have pointed out that Gareth Southgate left both Jack Wilshere and Jonjo Shelvey – both potentially able to play in that role – at home, but they have other issues surrounding them that hardly make them easy picks. That means that in the future, the answer to the problem could come from Chelsea’s youngster Mason Mount.

Arguably the most outstanding player in England’s victorious U19 European Championship campaign in 2017, it hardly came as a surprise – given the club he represents – when Mount was shipped out on loan to Vitesse Arnhem in 2017/18. What did come as somewhat of a surprise was quite how good he turned out to be.

After a slow start, he took to the Eredivisie like a duck to water, ending the season with 14 goals and 9 assists in 32 games, including a stunning performance against ADO Den Haag that saw him score a hat-trick and assist in a 4th goal as Vitesse won out 5-2.

A tremendous playmaker, Mount appears to have the rare gift of being able to conjure a chance seemingly from nowhere – something that England are sorely lacking right now – and it helps that he’s a dead-ball specialist too. If he can get a loan move to a Premier League club this season then his track to the England senior squad could be a surprisingly quick one.

#3: Jadon Sancho

Jadon Sancho

A common criticism of England sides over recent years – going back as far as the 90’s and the dawn of the Premier League era – is that their players tend to be too insular, as almost none of them play their club football abroad outside of one or two notable exceptions. That could be about to change, as the Bundesliga in particular has recently seen an influx of young English talent looking for game time in a top-class league as breaking into Premier League sides becomes ever harder.

The most notable of these young stars is undoubtedly Jadon Sancho. Initially coming through Watford’s academy system, Sancho ended up at Manchester City where he was expected to break through at some point in the future. Last summer though, the then-17 year old made a massive decision. Recognising that playing time would be slim at City, he made the move to Germany with Borussia Dortmund and was incredibly handed the #7 jersey that was vacated by Ousmane Dembele.

It took Sancho some time to settle in the Bundesliga, but by the time 2017/18 was coming to an end, he made his way into Dortmund’s first team and was able to make 7 starts, assisting in 4 goals and scoring 1, and he was named Man of the Match in Dortmund’s 4-0 destruction of Bayer Leverkusen in April.

A fleet-footed attacker with tremendous natural dribbling ability as well as an eye for a key pass, Sancho also impressed at the U17 World Cup in 2017, scoring 4 goals in the group stage before being recalled by Dortmund prior to the knockout phase beginning. If he can pick up in 2018/19 where he left off in 2017/18 then he could become a major star in Germany – and will surely be knocking on the door of England’s senior squad sooner rather than later.

#4: Phil Foden

Phil Foden

While England’s entire U17 World Cup winning squad was impressive in 2017, undoubtedly the brightest shining star was Manchester City’s baby-faced midfielder Phil Foden. The City youngster scored 3 goals during the tournament, including a brace in the 5-2 victory over Spain in the tournament final, and was handed the Golden Ball as the best player in the competition.

Able to play as a classical #10 in the centre of midfield, Foden has already earned comparisons to a young version of his City teammate David Silva – praise of the highest nature – and is a tremendous dribbler who is rarely dispossessed. He also appears to be able to thread a key pass through the eye of a needle and shoot from range too – all of which add up to some serious potential.

It appears that City manager Pep Guardiola is a firm believer in Foden’s talents – he was given 5 Premier League and 3 Champions League appearances in 2017/18 as City romped to the Premier League title, and that meant that he became the youngest ever player to receive a Premier League winner’s medal.

If Foden is given more game time this season – and there’s nothing to suggest that won’t happen given City’s packed schedule and Guardiola’s known penchant for using young talent – then there’s no reason why he can’t force his way into Southgate’s senior England squad.

Southgate has already shown he’s willing to embed youth into the England team even when they’re not regularly playing for their club, and so Foden could easily be fast-tracked into the side before the 2018/19 season is out.