JULES BREACH: England's victorious Young Lions can help Thomas Tuchel's senior side to glory next summer

Although the new season is just about to start, many players will be thinking about what will be happening at the end of it.

The World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico is less than 12 months away, so it’s a hugely important season: play well, stay injury-free and get vital minutes on the pitch to impress.

That’s particularly true for England’s Young Lions, who were crowned Under-21 European champions at the end of June.

By beating Germany in extra-time in the final in Slovakia, Lee Carsley’s side not only won the trophy but defended their title, winning back-to-back tournaments for the first time since 1984.

It was an incredible achievement, when you consider the setbacks Carsley had to deal with, such as losing two key players in Liam Delap and Jobe Bellingham just days before the tournament began, due to the Club World Cup. Winning the trophy again gave the nation hope that the future is bright for young English talent, but it also offered a platform for players on the fringe of Thomas Tuchel’s international squad to really shine.

No player did that more consistently than Harvey Elliott. Awarded player of the tournament, the 22-year-old stood out right from the start. He found the back of the net in England’s opening match and followed that up with crucial strikes in the knockout stages against Spain and the Netherlands, before scoring the goal that set the team on their way to victory in the final.

Carsley knew how important Elliott’s leadership and experience would be across England’s six matches, and he started him in every game. That was the same number of starts in just over three weeks as he was given across the entire campaign in all competitions for Liverpool last season.

Prior to the tournament starting, Elliott expressed his desire to play more football for his own development, and you could see that the consistency of games, and the platform that the U21 European Championship gave him, certainly got the best out of the forward.

With so much competition in the attacking areas of the senior team, it will take a full season of performances such as those at the U21 Euros for Elliott to be at the forefront of Thomas Tuchel’s mind. Still, there can be no doubt that he’s in a much better position now than he was before the tournament began.

An area of the pitch that England’s seniors have struggled with in recent years is having a regular starter at left-back. Multiple players have been tried there under Gareth Southgate and then Tuchel, but as we count down to the World Cup, nobody has nailed down the position.

Carsley faced a similar problem with his U21 team for the Euros, but Tino Livramento provided a solution. Though he’s naturally more suited to playing at right-back, he looks just as comfortable on the left – as Newcastle fans will testify – and England fans got a taste of that this summer. The 22-year-old’s versatility at full-back is a massive plus for Tuchel, and playing at left-back could be his clearest route into the World Cup squad.

For that reason, he looks the most likely player from the U21 team to make the step up, perhaps as soon as the first international break in September.

Other stand-out performers included captain James McAtee, who just looked effortless on the big stage, as well as Jarell Quansah and Charlie Cresswell, both solid in defence, plus Elliot Anderson and Alex Scott, brilliant in midfield.

Anderson could become difficult to ignore if he follows up his work this summer with another impressive Premier League season at Nottingham Forest.

Of the Under-21 Euros-winning squad from their previous triumph two years ago, Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Morgan Gibbs-White, Curtis Jones, Noni Madueke, Anthony Gordon and James Trafford were all named in Tuchel’s squad for the fixtures against Andorra and Senegal in June.

There’s a clear pathway now for English talent to progress into the senior team, and it seems certain that a number of players from the class of 2025 will make that step. Off the back of winning a trophy this year, they could yet play a part in helping England lift an even bigger one next summer.