Some of the brightest young talents in English football have congregated in the city known as the Las Vegas of the Black Sea, but Jack Grealish need not fear he is missing out. Rather than looking to tour Batumi’s famed clubs and casinos, Lee Carsley’s England Under-21s squad have travelled to this subtropical region of Georgia at the foot of the Caucasus for business rather than pleasure.
If their principal mission is to be the first England side to win this age group’s European Championship since that of 1984, Carsley’s players will also be hoping to catch the eye of Gareth Southgate as they kick off their campaign against the Czech Republic on Thursday evening. The England manager’s attendance at a 16-team tournament jointly hosted by Georgia and Romania emphasises its role as a form of international finishing school.
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Yet although Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe possesses three senior caps, several of Carsley’s 23-man squad remain light on Premier League experience. The Manchester City centre-half Taylor Harwood-Bellis and the goalkeeper James Trafford are examples of talents possessing plenty of potential who still await their Premier League debuts. Smith Rowe, meanwhile, made a modest 12 top-tier appearances for Mikel Arteta’s team last season, all off the bench.
It means Carsley is likely to lean heavily on an experienced contingent including the Aston Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey, a veteran of 35 appearances for Unai Emery’s upwardly mobile side last term. If Ramsey should prove a key figure in an initial group stage also involving Israel and Germany, Nottingham Forest’s similarly battle-hardened Morgan Gibbs-White will hope to drift between the lines separating midfield from attack, while the winger Anthony Gordon will be determined to prove precisely why Newcastle paid Everton an initial £40m for his services in January.
“I’m confident we can do well,” says Carsley, whose midfield options also include the relatively experienced Liverpool pair of Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones, in addition to Tottenham’s Oliver Skipp. “We tried to pick as many players who have been playing for their clubs, particularly towards the end of the season, and there’s plenty of caps in there. I feel like we’re in a good position to really attack every team.”
Despite England’s ranking alongside Spain, France, Italy and Germany as one of the favourites to lift the trophy in Batumi on 8 July, Carsley detects no reason for complacency. “The stats would tell you from past under-21 tournaments that we haven’t won it since 1984 and we’re rated sixth or eighth in the coefficient rankings,” he says. “So to win it we’re going to have to perform above our current rating.”
Given Uefa rules dictate players had to be 21 or under only at the start of the qualifying process in January 2021, Carsley’s squad includes 11 players over the age of 21, including three who have already celebrated their 23rd birthday. Such maturity will preface plenty of farewells next month. “A lot of these players won’t be able to play for the under–21s again,” acknowledges England’s coach, whose side face Israel in Kutaisi on Sunday and Germany in the same Georgian city next Wednesday. “I’ve told them we won’t get this time back.
“But no one should see this as bowing out [from involvement with England] because the pathway’s there; if you’re performing well in the Premier League then you’ve got a really good chance of being involved in Gareth’s thoughts.”
Levi Colwill has already featured in Southgate’s plans, having recently been called up to train with the senior setup. The Chelsea centre-half – whose playing style has been likened to that of John Terry – impressed enormously while on loan at Brighton this past season and, at only 20, appears more than capable of eventually earning full international honours.
If Southgate is particularly intrigued to see how Colwill copes with potentially marking Germany’s Youssoufa Moukoko – the 18-year-old Borussia Dortmund forward arrives in Georgia having already represented his country’s seniors at the World Cup in Qatar – scouts from Newcastle and Chelsea are expected to be fixated by Sandro Tonali. The 23-year-old captain of the Italy side at the tournament, and holder of 14 senior caps, shone in a defensive midfield role for Milan last season.
Representatives of Chelsea, Newcastle and others are also likely to take a close looks at Lyon’s 19-year-old Rayan Cherki, an attacking midfielder expected to be a key component of France’s challenge.
Carsley’s immediate concern is to finish in the top two of Group C and avoid any embarrassing slip-up against a Czech Republic side England beat twice as they won eight of their 10 qualifying games. “It’s important we enjoy this challenge,” he says. “And why can’t we win it, too?”
