Of all the football trends nobody saw coming, the most significant for Euro 2020 must be the emergence of England, a nation of 56 million people which until recently was struggling to produce one competent left-footed player per generation, as Europe’s premier talent volcano. New English talent is coming through the ranks so fast it’s hard to keep up. 13 of the 23 players who went to the 2018 World Cup have already been phased out. It feels like it was only five minutes ago that Dele Alli was the player of the future, and now he’s yesterday’s man, rendered obsolete at 25 by a new generation of players born in the 21st century - Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham. Transfermarkt.com values England at a collective €1.25 billion euros, almost 25 per cent more than their nearest rival, France.

Source: The Irish Times June 05, 2021 06:00 UTC