A man who knows all about the pressures of being drafted into the Three Lions fold at a young age believes the Borussia Dortmund forward will flourish
Jadon Sancho “won’t be fazed” by the pressure of representing England, says Theo Walcott, with a former teen star for the Three Lions convinced that the Borussia Dortmund forward will flourish.
At 18 years of age, a man who took the brave decision to walk out on Manchester City and head for Germany in the summer of 2017 has been handed a maiden senior international call-up.
Gareth Southgate has drafted Sancho into the fold on the back of a positive opening to the 2018-19 campaign which has delivered just one Bundesliga start, but six assists.
Article continues below
Editors' Picks
Juve on alert: Exiled Icardi may have already played his final game for Inter Sarri vindicated for dropping Kepa as Chelsea & Pedro impress in Spurs win Magnificent Mane takes centre stage as league leaders Liverpool put on a five-star show Lukaku sends reminder that his Man Utd career is far from over
An exciting prospect could now be handed his England debut in Nations League clashes with Croatia and Spain, with Walcott tipping him to make an immediate impact.
The Everton winger knows all about the challenges of making an international breakthrough at a young age, having been handed a World Cup call-up in 2006 at the age of 17 and without a competitive outing for Arsenal to his name, and he expects Sancho to take everything in his stride.
Walcott said: “He can deal with it, he’s been in the Dortmund dressing room, he’s played at their stadium which is fantastic. He won’t be fazed at all.
“It’s completely different now, there are a lot of young players in that group. When I came through there was Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard – completely established players in the team – so it’s a different environment I would say.
“Of course, it’s still daunting, but when you get down on the field and play football that’s all you want to do, you just want to play, it doesn’t matter who it’s for.
“You just want to go out there and do your best and I’m sure everyone will.
“The young players with England is fantastic to see and they’ve just got to take their chances. Good luck to them all.”
Sancho has been joined in the latest Three Lions squad by fellow rookies Mason Mount, James Maddison, Nathaniel Chalobah and Lewis Dunk.
Walcott, meanwhile, continues to find himself overlooked. He has not figured for his country since November 2016 and remains stuck on 47 caps.