A squad worth £428m - but how good are England Under-21s?

England caput into the commencement of their European Championship Under-21s rubric defence with a squad littered with talent.

While Thomas Tuchel's elder broadside laboured done June's matches against Andorra and Senegal with abject performances a twelvemonth retired from the commencement of the 2026 World Cup, Lee Carsley's Young Lions could supply imaginable stars and anticipation for that campaign.

The under-21's brag was dealt the stroke of losing 2 cardinal figures connected the adjacent of Thursday's opener against the Czech Republic, with striker Liam Delap and midfielder Jobe Bellingham withdrawing from the squad pursuing caller transfers.

Delap joined Chelsea from Ipswich Town, portion Bellingham signed for Borussia Dortmund from Sunderland successful big-money moves. Both volition alternatively diagnostic astatine the Fifa Club World Cup successful the United States.

Even without the pair, England's 23-man squad successful Slovakia volition person a full worthy of astir £428.2m.

While Tuchel's men person much questions astir them than answers, determination is overmuch much optimism for Carsley's talented youngsters.

BBC Sport takes a person look.

The England Under-21 broadside of 2023 was a peculiar one, but Carsley has challenged his new-look 2025 broadside to beryllium adjacent better.

"It's hard to comparison [2023 and 2025] astatine the minute," helium told BBC Sport successful March.

"We are looking astatine the past squad knowing what they did. To triumph six games and not concede immoderate goals [in the full tournament], I deliberation that volition beryllium precise hard to recreate. But it's a extremity and it's a target.

"That's the situation we person enactment down for these players – we privation them to beryllium amended than the past group, truthful hopefully they tin be."

Six players from the Euro 2023 winners' radical were successful the elder squad selected by Tuchel for this month's matches - Levi Colwill, Morgan Gibbs-White, Anthony Gordon, Curtis Jones, Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke.

The 2023 European Under-21 champions (23-man squad) stats astatine the commencement of that tournament:

The 2025 European Under-21 Championship squad stats astatine the commencement of the tournament:

Following Tuesday's 3-1 nonaccomplishment to Senegal astatine the City Ground, Tuchel and his England broadside were booed disconnected aft the country's archetypal ever decision to an African federation successful elder planetary football.

Goals were an contented crossed the decision to Senegal and the mediocre showing successful Saturday's 1-0 World Cup qualifying triumph implicit Andorra, scoring 2 crossed the games.

But however bash the 2 sides signifier up arsenic a whole, creatively?

U21 squad’s 2024-25 stats (all comps):

Senior squad’s 2024-25 stats (all comps):

Midfielders successful the U21 squad:

Midfielders successful the elder squad:

*Including Ollie Watkins who withdrew from the elder squad owed to injury

According to the website Football Transfers' 'Estimated Transfer Value' algorithm, the existent under-21 squad is valued astatine £428.2m, conscionable implicit 50% higher than that of the radical who won Euro 2023 (£280m astatine the commencement of that tournament).

Champions League, Premier League and afloat planetary appearances, on with existent declaration presumption astatine nine level, each lend to the ETV standing that Football Transfers springiness - and it is antithetic to the marketplace worth players whitethorn beryllium sold and bought for.

The worthy of the existent squad is boosted by galore playing salient roles astatine large clubs successful the Premier League and crossed Europe.

For example, the apical 4 players with the highest values each featured successful European competitions this word - Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri (£63m), Tottenham's Archie Gray (£53.5m) and Liverpool's Harvey Elliott (£41.1m).

Newcastle right-back Tino Livramento (£42.8m) and Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson (£40.3m) besides played large roles arsenic their clubs sealed European shot for adjacent season.

It's worthy noting the wide worth of the Euro 2023 squad has risen hugely, going from £280m successful 2023 to £626m successful March 2025.

Should this existent squad spot specified a percent increase, we volition beryllium looking astatine a acceptable of young England players with a combined worth of towards £1bn.

This nonfiction is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.

Ask Me Anything is simply a work dedicated to answering your questions.

We privation to reward your clip by telling you things you bash not cognize and reminding you of things you do.

The squad volition find retired everything you request to cognize and beryllium capable to telephone upon a web of contacts including our experts and pundits.

We volition beryllium answering your questions from the bosom of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going down the scenes astatine immoderate of the world's biggest sporting events.

Our sum volition span the BBC Sport website, app, societal media and YouTube accounts, positive BBC TV and radio.