If Jude Bellingham had been an England player in the mid-2000s then he might have been the most popular member of the squad.
Whilst Gary Neville glared over at Frank Lampard and John Terry, who had eyes in the back of their heads whilst Wayne Rooney shot daggers towards Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard eating lunch on Three Lions duty, it's easy to see why the on-field ventures never succeeded.
There's now tangible evidence to suggest that the undescribable, undefinable and fluffy 'squad harmony' actually matters - if only someone told that England team.
READ MORE : Mason Mount and eight more deals Todd Boehly must make to avoid Marina Granovskaia Chelsea error
In recent years Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate has elevated England's current crop to national heroes, mainly due to their success at the World Cup in 2018 and Euro 2020. The togetherness shown across the last six years has been born partly due to the failure of previous generations to let go of their rivalries. Neville, Rooney and Terry and convincing themselves that this team was the most important since 1966 just like Alan Shearer and Paul Ince told each other at France '98.
We don't know the actual conversations, but Southgate got rid of them. His group would like each other, whether they wanted to or not - they did. In a long-winded way, that's why Bellingham would have been loved. The player from the outside. The Bundesliga kid. How would past England teams have acted uncaringly towards a 19-year-old who played in Germany?
In today's squad that doesn't happen anyway, there's group banter, a feeling that actually, they do all need each other and that Michael Owen and Rooney won't just do it all. It's why this England side have captured the love of their country, like an international side should.
It's also what makes the relationships between players so key. Mason Mount loves Bellingham, Trent Alexander-Arnold is his new best buddy on the camp, Reece James is watching through a rain soaked window back home.
Mount is also set to play at a World Cup with his best friend. Declan Rice and he have been almost inseparable since joining and playing at Chelsea together as kids. Even when Rice left as a 14-year-old their friendship continued. Premier League debuts, European debuts, battles against each other, major tournament finals. It's all there.
Beyond that there is an inescapable thought that maybe Mount holds some part of the key to luring Rice back to Stamford Bridge. His transfer has never seemed more likely than it does heading into 2023. He's the West Ham captain but come June he will have had it for a year officially unlike the most recent summer where he couldn't leave due to it being a new tie.
His contract will have one year left, putting the ball firmly in Chelsea's court to make a bid and cause panic. David Moyes has always shrugged off suggestions of a move but it's lurked in plain site. Chelsea managers have wanted to bring Rice back since Frank Lampard in 2020, Thomas Tuchel wanted him, Graham Potter isn't stupid, it'd be a surprise not to see a true attempt to land him result in a genuine bid from Todd Boehly.
Mount and Rice don't hide their friendship either, they're not scared of what will be said, what can be derived, they just continue the journey in front of everyone.
The battle to convince Bellingham might be harder though. Whereas Chelsea are clear frontrunners when it comes to Rice, every man and their dog would like Bellingham to join them. Liverpool may have sent Alexander-Arnold on a mission to get the 19-year-old to Anfield, and Daily Mail writer Dominic King expressed the level of their closeness, tweeting: "Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jude Bellingham getting ready for training; wherever one is, the other hasn’t been far away since England arrived in Doha."
Chelsea themselves would love to get Bellingham across the line next year, they have a way in with Reece James' previous experiences with the midfielder at Euro 2020, when the youngster was taken under James' wing for the tournament.
On their playful relationship James said in 2021: “He [Bellingham] is still so young but he has a lot to learn so I try and help him where I can. He is always poking me and hitting me, he’s just so stupid and I will turn around and get so close to touching him but I never get around to it.”
The Borussia Dortmund star is likely to be at the centre of a mass bidding war from Europe's top clubs but the feeling of connection and persuasion he may get from international teammates can't be ruled out as holding some weight.
It's over to Mount to play agent this time. He'll be helped by the borderless atmosphere at England camps now compared to before, but it doesn't make the task any easier.
READ NEXT:
Steven Gerrard tells Todd Boehly why Mason Mount must sign new Chelsea deal amid Liverpool links
Jude Bellingham to use Erling Haaland transfer strategy to decide future amid Chelsea interest
Mason Mount and eight more deals Todd Boehly must make to avoid Marina Granovskaia Chelsea error
Full list of Chelsea transfer targets going to Qatar 2022 World Cup amid Boehly scouting mission
Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: Latest news, rumours and gossip from Stamford Bridge
