Under-21s Euros: Ranking England’s 2019 squad for progress in four years since… | OneFootball

England pose for a photo prior to a 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship match.

England Under-21s have won their European Championship final against Spain, but what comes next? Some of the 2019 crop, like Phil Foden and Mason Mount, have pushed on. Others have not.

Four years ago, England exited at the group stage after losing to France and Romania and drawing with Croatia. Here’s how we’ve ranked Aidy Boothroyd’s squad for how they progressed since that tournament in Italy…

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23) Jake Clarke-Salter (Vitesse on loan from Chelsea) Senior caps: 0 After a spell at Vitesse, Clarke-Salter had a couple of seasons on loan at Birmingham before finally leaving Chelsea for good a year ago. He joined QPR, but injuries restricted his impact.

22) Jay Dasilva (Bristol City, on loan from Chelsea) Senior caps: 0 Dasilva returned from the Euros and signed permanently at Bristol City. He was a regular at Ashton Gate, seeing out his original four-year deal before joining Coventry on a free this summer.

21) Kieran Dowell (Sheffield United on loan from Everton) Senior caps: 0 The Euros came in the middle of four seasons spent on loan at four different clubs in the Championship. Dowell failed to break through at Everton and was sold to Norwich for £1.5million in 2020. At the end of his contract this summer, the midfielder has chosen to join Rangers.

20) Jonjoe Kenny (Everton) Senior caps: 0 Played 19 Premier League games for Everton after the Euros but never looked like nailing down a regular place. Seems more at home in Germany where he’s played for Schalke and Hertha Berlin.

19) Freddie Woodman (Newcastle) Senior caps: 0 The 2017 Under-20 World Cup winner eventually got his chance in the Newcastle side but he couldn’t seize it. Has since established himself as a solid Championship keeper, first with Swansea and now at Preston.

18) Angus Gunn (Southampton) England senior caps: 0 Gunn failed to establish himself as Saints No.1 and a subsequent loan at Stoke was hampered by injuries. Saints sold Gunn to Norwich where he became first choice last season. He has four senior caps to his name…for Scotland.

17) Hamza Choudhury (Leicester) Senior caps: 0 The midfielder flitted in and out of the Leicester side before it was decided he needed more regular game time last season. Choudhury played 36 times for Watford in the Championship, which could come in useful for the Foxes this term.

16) Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham) Senior caps: 0 Just after the Euros, Sessegnon achieved a Guinness World Record for ‘fastest time to hit both posts and a crossbar’, which is perhaps the Spursiest record imaginable. Joined Tottenham from Fulham shortly after returning from Italy and has struggled to convince any of his Spurs bosses.

15) Demarai Gray (Leicester) Senior caps: 0 Gray fell out of favour at Leicester after the Euros, and was packed off for an unsuccessful year at Bayer Leverkusen. He’s made a better fist of things at Everton but having failed to make the breakthrough at senior level for England, Gray switched allegiance to Jamaica.

14) Reiss Nelson (Hoffenheim on loan from Arsenal) Senior caps: 0 Nelson flirted with the Arsenal first team after the Euros before another season on loan, this time at Feyenoord, preceded more cameos last season. Mikel Arteta has evidently seen enough progress since he’s given the attacker a new four-year deal.

13) Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth) Senior caps: 1 Solanke, capped at senior level in 2017, was struggling to make an impact at club level in the seasons either side of the Euros. It wasn’t until Bournemouth were relegated that the striker caught fire, scoring 44 goals in two seasons in the Championship. Looks much more like a Premier League player these days.

12) Lloyd Kelly (Bristol City) Senior caps: 0 Kelly had already signed for Bournemouth just prior to the 2019 Euros and he has since become club captain. Injuries haven’t helped the defender to establish himself fully in the Premier League yet. This is a big season coming up for the 24-year-old, who also featured at the 2021 Under-21 Euros.

11) Dean Henderson (Sheffield United on loan from Manchester United) Senior caps: 1 Henderson went into the 2019 Euros on the back of a promotion-winning campaign with the Blades in which he was named their Player of the Season. He returned to Bramall Lane the year after, with a new Man Utd contract in his back pocket – but Henderson has struggled to kick on from there. He failed to usurp David De Gea as United’s No.1 and last season’s loan at Nottingham Forest was hampered by injuries, which have also played a part in restricting him to a single senior cap.

10) Ezri Konsa (Brentford) Senior caps: 0 Konsa moved to Villa just after the Euros and has been a regular through the last four seasons. The arrival of Pau Torres will provide a different challenge for the 25-year-old, who has been discussed as a possible call-up for the senior England squad.

9) Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Crystal Palace) Senior caps: 0 Wan-Bissaka became a £50million player after the Euros when Manchester United paid a fortune for the full-back – wrongly, as it appeared for a while. But Erik ten Hag has sprinkled his magic over Wan-Bissaka and he goes into the new season ready to fight for the starting spot. Still no nearer the England senior squad, though, which could be to Congo’s benefit.

8) Harvey Barnes (Leicester) Senior caps: 1 Barnes was capped by Gareth Southgate a year after the 2019 Euros but has struggled to add to his senior appearances. A £35million move to Newcastle might help his cause.

7) Morgan Gibbs-White (Wolves) Senior caps: 0 Gibbs-White remains in the Under-21 set-up for this tournament but it surely won’t be long before he gets a tap on the shoulder from Southgate if he maintains the form that saw him earn the Player of the Season award at Nottingham Forest last season.

6) Tammy Abraham (Aston Villa on loan from Chelsea) Senior caps: 11 Abraham was already a senior international by the time the 2019 Euros came around. After that, he merited plenty of opportunities in the Chelsea side, scoring 15 Premier League goals in 2019-20, but Thomas Tuchel was never quite convinced so he sold the striker to Roma, where he has scored at a rate of once every three games in Serie A.

5) Fikayo Tomori (Derby on loan from Chelsea) Senior caps: 3 The centre-back made his first-team breakthrough at Chelsea after the Euros, playing 15 Premier League games for the Blues before being packed off on loan to AC Milan. The Rossoneri were so impressed they bought him, and Tomori won the Serie A title in 2021-22. He’s played in the Champions League semi-finals and lingers around the fringes of Southgate’s England squad.

4) Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton) Senior caps: 11 If it weren’t for injuries, Calvert-Lewin would surely have had plenty more than the 11 caps he’s gathered, all the while scoring four goals for Southgate. England and Everton need him to stay fit this season.

3) James Maddison (Leicester) Senior caps: 3 It took Southgate a while to warm to Maddison but the playmaker made enough of an impression to earn a place in the World Cup squad. Now a £40million player after Tottenham took him from Leicester this summer.

2) Mason Mount (Derby on loan from Chelsea) Senior caps: 36 Mount made his senior debut shortly after the Euros and has become one of Southgate’s most trusted players, even if Todd Boehly deemed him unworthy of the contract the player felt the deserved from his boyhood team. A £55million move to Man Utd won’t harm his prospects of adding to 36 caps.

1) Phil Foden (Man City) Senior caps: 25 Foden was the dead-cert from the 2019 Euros squad and with more senior caps than anyone but Mount, on top of five Premier League titles, a Champions League, two FA Cups with Manchester City, he’s justifying the hype.