Colwill to Liverpool, Smith Rowe to Villa among six potential transfers involving England U21 heroes | OneFootball

England U21 trio Emile Smith Rowe, Levi Colwill and Max Aarons.

After winning the U21 Euros, these six Young Lions (including Man City’s £19m ‘keeper and Liverpool target Levi Colwill) could be on the move this summer…

James Trafford (Man City to Burnley) Before his penalty-saving heroics in the Euro U21 final, Burnley prompted jibes over their willingness to pay £19m for City youngster Trafford. But it actually turns out that Vincent Kompany is getting himself a proper bargain. Fancy that.

Trafford’s growth over the past year proves how useful a spell in the Football League can be for young players at Premier League clubs. 26 clean sheets in 52 appearances in 2022/23 for Bolton set him up to be unbeatable at the Euros with six clean sheets in England’s six tournament matches.

Billed as a future star for club and country, the 20-year-old needs to carry on playing and a move to Burnley at this stage of his career would be perfect for his development. And Man City would be wise to negotiate a sneaky buy-back clause with the Clarets, so they are covered if Ederson suddenly starts to endure a David De Gea-esque decline.

Levi Colwill (Chelsea to Liverpool) One of the breakout stars of the 2022/23 campaign, former Brighton loanee Colwill is arguably primed to start alongside Man City sensation John Stones at next year’s Euros as long as he remains on his current trajectory.

Harry Maguire’s 2022/23 season will impact this transition; he is Southgate’s favourite after all and a resurgence (at, let’s say, Aston Villa) would undoubtedly help his cause, but Colwill should be breathing right down his neck.

If Chelsea do not afford Colwill enough opportunities, we know that some of their rivals would take the defender off their hands in a heartbeat. Liverpool seem most interested and they are in the market for a young centre-back. There are few better options for Jurgen Klopp than the Englishman.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Man City to Newcastle) Time for the second (of three) Man City players to feature on this list. Sadly Harwood-Bellis’ season with Kompany’s Burnley in the Championship was disrupted by injury but he did more than enough to earn himself a season in the Premier League (and potentially move away from the treble winners) this year.

Like Trafford, it’s hard to see Harwood-Bellis becoming a first-team regular at Man City any time soon and with consistent game time needed for his progress to continue, a move elsewhere may need to be pursued (even if it is just a short-term loan).

Burnley are unsurprisingly being linked with Harwood-Bellis ahead of their return to the Premier League, but with Eddie Howe on the lookout for a defender, the City man should be a Newcastle target.

The 21-year-old and Sven Botman could foreseeably line up alongside each other at centre-back during the club’s inevitable spell of dominance that – given they are way ahead of schedule – may just be around the corner.

Max Aarons (Norwich City to West Ham) The Norwich academy product has previously been linked with Bayern Munich and Man Utd, so a switch to the Hammers sounds quite underwhelming by comparison.

Still only 23, Aarons has stagnated somewhat as part of a Norwich side on a downward spiral. David Wagner has a major job on his hands at Carrrow Road ahead of next season, especially as it’s already been confirmed by club chiefs that their highly rated defender will be on the move this summer.

A switch to West Ham – as an upgrade on Vladimir Coufal and Ben Johnson – would work well as a potential stepping stone for a player who still has much to do to live up to the years of hype.

Cole Palmer (Man City to Brighton) Pep Guardiola has a ridiculously good team at his disposal so it’s quite unfair (and a bit greedy) that he also has some of England’s best youth prospects to choose from.

Palmer seems to have a huge future ahead of him at the Etihad; he’s not looked out of place when he’s been given chances by the Treble winners. But he has not yet progressed past being a bit-part player so a short-term loan at a Premier League rival may be on the cards.

And if that’s the case, a season with Brighton (everyone’s second favourite team) would be suitable for all involved. Robert De Zerbi is already blessed with several quality options in attacking areas and Palmer would provide them with an extra bit of stardust during their venture around Europe.

Emile Smith Rowe (Arsenal to Aston Villa) Smith Rowe is the player on this list who really needs a move before next season as he’s already been pretty f***ed over by Arsenal’s summer business.

After shining for the Gunners in 21/22, Smith Rowe did not make a single Premier League start under Mikel Arteta last season and his position at the Emirates has just been hampered further by the £65m arrival of Kai Havertz from Chelsea.

Aston Villa are throwing their d*cks around this summer and Unai Emery – who is as good as guaranteed to win the Europa Conference League with the Villans next season – would love a reunion with his former Arsenal colleague. The midfielder’s time to shine for the Gunners may have been and gone, but he’d be welcomed with open arms by Villa while being a big fish in a small(er) pond.