Gareth Southgate has suggested that Chelsea's Reece James is the next young star to force his way into the England XI, following in the recent footsteps of Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham.
Reece James, who's adored by Chelsea fans, has grown into a key player at Stamford Bridge in recent seasons.
The 23-year-old full-back is so effective both offensively and defensively. Pat Nevin said James looked somewhere back to his best in last weekend's game against Everton, too.
The Blues star is still trying to crack it on the international stage. He's earned 15 senior caps for England, but the right-back competition is very high with him, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier all options in this current squad.
England manager Southgate has name-dropped Chelsea's full-back as one of the rising stars pushing to become a key starter in his team.
Arsenal's Saka, 21, and Borussia Dortmund's Bellingham, 19, are now important individuals in the England line-up.
It sounds like James might be the next young talent to join them as mainstays in the side.
“The team is always evolving. You're always looking at young players that when is the right moment to put them in, not just to start a couple of games, but when is the right moment for them to become a fixture in the team,” Southgate said, as quoted by The Mirror.
“That happened again with Jude [Bellingham] most recently and we have got one or two others who are just on the fringes we are hoping to give that opportunity to in the coming 12 months.
“We went pretty early with Bukayo Saka and Jude, Reece is obviously pushing around that as well. We've got some exciting players and it's about looking at their progression, looking at when is the right time to really let them go.”
In our view, James should be England's starting right-back every game from now.
We may be accused of a bias towards a Chelsea individual we get to watch every week. He's a very special player, though.
England could be looking at something quite frightening with a James-Saka combination on the right-hand side of the pitch.
We understand why Southgate is still loyal to Man City right-back Walker, 32, who has been such a great performer over the years. It's time for this new-look England side to keep evolving, though.