On Wednesday, June 21 kicks off the under 21's European Championship where the best young talents around Europe compete against each other.
Georgia and Romania will co-host the competition which will kick off a summer full of exciting international football. All matches at the European U21 Championship will be staged at eight stadiums in total. They will be split equally with four in Romania and four in Georgia.
England Young Lions
England will begin their tournament on Thursday, June 22. They will face Czechia in their opening group game at 5pm UK time before taking on Israel on Saturday, June 25 at the same time. Finally, a tough challenge against reigning champions Germany wraps up the Young Lions’ group stage on Wednesday, June 28. They will hope to already of qualified before they come up against the reigning champions.
Squad announcement
This is an exceptionally talented squad and incredibly experienced for a youth tournament. Most of the squad play first team football at the highest levels. We will now talk about just some of the players to look out for.
Standout Defenders
Jarrad Brathwaite
Brathwaite has had an incredible year at PSV, with his stock rising, the towering left-footer received his first England under-21 call-up earlier in the year which gave affirmation that his decision to jet off to the Netherlands was the right one. Now Brathwaite is expected to come back to the Premier League, before that he has a chance to showcase his defensive abilities in the Euros u21s.
Levi Colwill
Colwill has been a revelation for Brighton this year, The England under-21 international impressed for the Seagulls as they secured European football for the first time and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. He is linked with a big money move back the South Coast as he is deemed to be one of the best talents in English Football. Colwill has made 22 senior appearances in all competitions for Brighton during the 2022-23 campaign, and has this week trained with the senior England squad, he is one to look out for within this tournament for England.
Standout Midfielders
Curtis Jones
Jones is one of the more experienced talents within the squad, at the age of 22 he has featured in Liverpool's first team on numerous occasions, he will not shy away from the big stage. Jones has a wonder of a right foot which he has proved repeatedly with his most notable being an unbelievable strike against Everton a few years ago.
A lot of excitement was created over Curtis Jones, but his form and injuries created people to not regard him as highly as they did a few years ago. However, in recent months he has proved at Liverpool that he still has all the talent to become a top-class midfielder. This summer and next season is vital for him to keep his form and challenge to be part of the first team.
Oliver Skipp
In what has been a disappointing season for Spurs, Skipp has been a standout in the midfield. Making 27 appearances across the Premier League and Champions League, Skipp has been trusted to play against world class players. He is nowhere near the finished article, but he can be the heartbeat of any team, he has incredible stamina and is tidy on the ball, very much a future leader.
Harvey Elliot
Elliot who once was the youngest player to have ever played in the Premier League is now staring for Liverpool week in week out. He can play on the wing or through the centre. Klopp has deployed him alongside Jones on various occasions, it is a fresh look midfield for the reds and maybe England. A standout goal for the young talent was against Wolves in the Fa Cup
Jacob Ramsey
Jacob Ramsey is a gem in a pool of extraordinarily talented players at Aston Villa who show high potential. He will be looking to pick up where he left off for Aston Villa after a remarkably successful end to the season. Ramsey has played a very impressive 35 games last year with a return of 6 goals and 7 assists. He will hope to bring this form into the euros and be a star man for the side.
Standout forwards
Morgan Gibbs White (MGW)
The young talent has had a brilliant year under Nottingham Forest, he was a pivotal figure with Forest eventually securing survival. Playing 35 games, scoring 5 and setting up his teammates 8 times, he very much a fan favourite winning the fans player of the year at Forest. He has also grown a national reputation as many people expected MGW to be called up to the English first team, this wasn't to be so he will hope to bring success for the under 21's this summer.
Madueke
The England youth international – one of the most exciting young talents across Europe. Madueke scored 20 goals and added 14 assists in his time at PSV, but since a recent ankle injury he has struggled to regain those numbers.
In January Madueke made a big money move to Chelsea, On the deal Boehly and co-controlling owner Behdad Eghbali said: "We're delighted to bring Noni to Chelsea. "He’s an exciting talent who has proven his quality over the past few years with PSV, playing in a strong European league, and we are thrilled he has chosen to join Chelsea for this next stage of his career. He has played 14 times for Chelsea since the transfer and will hope to build on that next summer. However, he has a perfect opportunity to display his talent next week and will have grand expectations from his fans this summer, he will hope to deliver.
Cameron Archer
Archer has had a stop and start career and yet to make a significant impact in the Premier League with Aston Villa. However, he has been on two hugely successful loans in the previous 2 years to Championship sides Preston and Middlesbrough. He has bagged goals for fun down in an extremely competitive Championship and will hope this success will help him to break into Aston Villa first team in the next few years. Archer is the most natural finisher in the u21 squad so will hope to score plenty of goals so he can boost England’s chances of going deep into the competition.
England Overview
These are just a couple of standout players in which is an incredibly talented squad. England have one of the most experienced teams in the competition with the large majority playing in Premier League. These young English players know what it takes to win in the most competitive games. We will hope the mix between talent and experience can bring success and we wish England the best of luck over the next few weeks and hope they can bring it home.
