On the back of England’s dramatic win over Croatia that secured qualification for next summers Nations League playoffs, Everton forward Ademola Lookman has pledged his international future to the Three Lions.
According to the Daily Mail, the Everton youngster has decided to represent England at senior level and end any speculation about his international future.
The Mail claim that Boothroyd has received assurances from the 21-year-old that he is committed to England.
This is good news for both England Under-21 boss Aidy Boothroyd and senior team head coach Gareth Southgate. It will add further to his increasingly rich attacking resources and options in the next few years as England bid to win a major international prize and exorcise the ghosts of 1966.
It’s also further evidence of Lookman’s growing maturity and determination to win himself a starting place in the Everton and England sides.
During the summer it had seemed very likely that Lookman would leave the Blues and return to Germany where he had enjoyed a successful loan spell at RB Leipzig last season.
Lookman had been disappointed at his lack of first team chances since his big money move from Charlton in January 2017 and the loan at Leipzig had been a positive experience for him.
But new boss Marco Silva made it clear he was determined to keep him and refused to make the loan permanent, leaving Lookman frustrated.
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Early on this season the young forward had continued to play only a bit-part in Silva’s plans and this added to his sense of disillusionment with his situation at Everton. And this disillusionment had at times seemed evident in his performances when he did get onto the pitch.
However to his credit he recently seems to have decided to knuckle down and fight to win himself a starting place at the club.
With his talent and potential this is just what Everton need, especially given the indifferent form of Theo Walcott over recent weeks.
And having real competition for places up front can only be a positive thing for the Blues as they strive to make real, sustained progress this season.