Following their historic victory, England’s Under 21 European Championship champions have already started training again.
The Young Lions defeated Spain 1-0 on Saturday when goalkeeper James Trafford saved a penalty in the 98th minute to break a 39-year trophy drought.
It was the perfect way to finish off a remarkable tournament for Lee Carsley’s team, which eliminated the Czech Republic, Israel (twice), Germany, Portugal, and ultimately Spain on route to an unprecedented victory. Despite the incredible accomplishment, Noni Madueke and Max Aarons, two of England’s campaign’s stars, have already returned to training to advance their season preparation.
With his speed, skill, and dynamism off the right wing, Madueke displayed glimpses of his enormous talent in Georgia and Romania. Aarons also made an impression in an unusual inverted left back position that he made look natural.
The two are students of highly respected coach Saul Isaksson-Hurst, who honed his technical skills over more than a decade in the youth settings at Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham.
Since then, he has dedicated his time to coaching individual footballers in the major divisions of Europe. Along with Madueke and Aarons, his clientele includes footballers like Rico Henry of Brentford, Samuel Iling-Junior of Juventus, and Folarin Balogun of Arsenal. The latter has just returned from a fantastic loan stint at Reims where he scored 21 goals in Ligue 1.
Isaksson-Hurst works with his clients once a week, providing comments on games as well as technical and position-specific sessions to help them grow better. They also frequently team up during preseason.
After their accomplishments this summer, the clubs gave the Young Lions some time off, but this hasn’t stopped Madueke or Aarons from trying to be ready for the upcoming season as quickly as possible by working with Isaksson-Hurst in Mykonos.
Madueke, who cost Chelsea £28 million when he joined from PSV in January, was one of the few bright spots in a dιsastrous second half of the season.
The 21-year-old, who spent last summer working with Isaksson-Hurst in Marbella, will be eager to impress Mauricio Pochettino when he ultimately returns to west London, and the private coach put him through his paces on the Greek island in the sweltering heat. Isaksson-Hurst could not have been more favourable in his assessment of the Blues winger while speaking exclusively to Mail Sport back in February.
‘With Noni, he’s a top player and one of the best young players in Europe,’ he remarked.
He is a very interesting and dynamic player who enjoys challenging opponents and innovating. All of his fans want to see him succeed at the box office.
He’s thrιlling to watch because there’s an end result, and I’m sure Chelsea fans will appreciate having him at the team and watching him score goals and assist others.
In the meantime, Aarons and Madueke had a private and shared session with Isaksson-Hurst.
The 23-year-old defender from Norwich has frequently been associated with moves away from Carrow Road in recent summers, and it is believed that he will finally make the switch this year.
‘I definitely feel it’s the perfect time for me now to pursue that next chapter,’ he rҽvealed as much to The Athletic back in May.
I have a burning desire to compete at the greatest level as a player. I want to play in the Premier League and for the senior England side, so I do need to go forward in order to do that.
“Everything has a proper time to move on,” they say.
Isaksson-Hurst has also been putting Balogun through his paces lately. Balogun, who is widely anticipated to leave Arsenal this summer after his fantastic performances in France, has also been put through his paces by Isaksson-Hurst.
Since then, he has returned to Arsenal for preseason workouts. On Thursday night, he took part in a friendly match against FC Nurnberg, coming off the bench for the final 35 minutes of the game.
This month, Mail Sport rҽvealed that five European clubs are interested in signing the recently-declared US striker.
The 22-year-old, who is valued at £50 million by Arsenal, has drawn interest from French teams Marseille and Monaco, Italian powerhouses AC Milan and Inter Milan, German club RB Leipzig, and Italian clubs Marseille and Monaco.
Despite playing for England at the youth level, where Aarons and Madueke could have been his teammates this summer, he declared his intention to represent the US in May.
Then, in just his second international game, he scored his first goal against Canada last month.
Balogun was wearing a New York Yankees shirt during his session with Isaksson-Hurst, so it was obvious that he was enjoying his time with the USMNT.
The 22-year-old is most likely to receive his significant summer move because of his ambition to continue serving as the starting striker.