Harry Winks would be prepared to represent England's Under-21s at Euro 2019 in order to gain the tournament experience he was denied this summer.
The Football Association will hold talks in the coming months to see which of those players who have senior experience but are still eligible for the U21s will be made available to Aidy Boothroyd to select for the championships in Italy and San Marino next June.
Winks is part of a group that also includes Chelsea's Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Liverpool pair Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold, plus Leicester's Ben Chilwell and James Maddison.
Winks was excellent in Monday's 3-2 win against Spain in Seville and showed his desire to keep getting on the ball and making forward passes and more than held his own against the illustrious combination of Sergio Busquets, Thiago Alcantara and Saul Niguez.
Such a performance would leave many to assume that Winks is now an established member of the senior set up, but the Tottenham midfielder is eager to represent England at a tournament having been deprived of the chance to go to the World Cup due to an ankle injury.
'The more games I play the better really,' said Winks. 'I have missed a lot of football with my ankle and I've had a lot of problems with it.
'Still to this day I have got to manage it at times but playing for your country is an honour, regardless of the level, Under 21s, 19s, 18s, 17s.
'Every level is an absolute honour for me, but especially the seniors. Right now I'm trying to focus on playing for the seniors as much of the time as I possibly can and obviously going back to club football and trying to impress and stay in the team there.'
Should he continue to play as he did in Seville, Winks will certainly remain in Southgate's plans; he has made nine appearance for Tottenham so far this season and the 22-year-old has continued to enhance his reputation.
'I'm proud of myself and the way I have performed,' said Winks. 'But I still believe I can perform a lot better, I watch the games back and believe I can do a lot better on the ball as well. I'm happy to have performed in these games and done respectable but in my opinion I can improve a lot more.'
If Winks returned home on a high, Nathaniel Chalobah's elation was on a different level entirely.
His late substitute appearance means he has now represented England at every from Under-16 to the seniors. In total, he has now played 97 times for his country at different age groups.
'I can't really put it into words if I'm honest with you,' said Chalobah. 'I've waited a long time for it and I'm chuffed. Can you think of some words for me?!
'It's every young boy's dream, from when we start at U16, the dream and the target is to get to the seniors. Hopefully that's the first of many.'
