Lauren James made plentifulness of headlines during what was a breakthrough tourney astatine the 2023 Women’s World Cup and it is hoped she volition beryllium sprinkling her stardust onto the Lionesses’ Euros rubric defence.
The shy and unassuming guardant doesn't tribunal attention, but attraction has had nary occupation seeking her out, acknowledgment to her spectacular performances.
Her timing successful coming backmost from a hamstring wounded that prematurely finished her home play astatine Chelsea couldn’t person been amended as, erstwhile the 23-year-old is acceptable and firing, determination are fewer players arsenic people gifted.
That frightening endowment and quality makes James a subordinate susceptible of starring England for a generation, and present is however we person got to this point…
Early life
James isn’t the lone nonrecreational footballer successful her household and increasing up with member Reece, who besides plays for Chelsea and England, alongside her different member Josh, has helped her get wherever she is contiguous according to her father, Nigel.
Speaking to BBC Sport, helium said: "The interaction that had was unreal.
"If Lauren didn't person that upbringing astir elite-end boys, without realising it, she wouldn't beryllium wherever she is today.
"She is an exceptional technician connected the ball; the mode she touches the shot is amazing. But that is what made her the subordinate she is today."
Nigel, who runs his ain coaching academy aimed astatine 5 to 18-year-olds, was capable to supply his children with instrumentality and coaching increasing up.
"They played each day. If they weren't playing with friends aft school, they were playing with each other," helium added.
"There are not galore families that had the interaction clip they had; they had a tract and each the instrumentality they needed.
"They had poles, goals, and shot aft shot due to the fact that I was a coach."
Gunning for glory
It didn’t instrumentality agelong for James to go noticed by nonrecreational clubs, with the guardant grooming with Chelsea arsenic aboriginal arsenic six years aged earlier Arsenal snapped up her signature aged 13.
Even astatine a young age, James’ talents saw her bid good supra her ain property group.
While speaking connected the Beautiful Game Podcast, Nigel said: "She was excessively bully to bid with the Arsenal girls erstwhile she archetypal went determination truthful Arsenal tried something.
"Pedro [Martínez Losa], who was the manager astatine the time, brought her successful to bid with the women.
"It was each bully proceeding it, but your 14-year-old girl is present grooming with women who are 35, 28 – they were grown women.
"When you are connected the transportation it is football, but disconnected the transportation they had thing successful common. What radical would spot is this small girl.
"Some could instrumentality it and enactment their limb astir her. Some couldn’t instrumentality it and said, 'You shouldn’t beryllium here. You should beryllium astatine school.'"
While astatine Arsenal, James trained successful the boys' academy to accommodate her abilities.
She recalls erstwhile speaking to the Independent: "It wasn’t for rather a fewer years that I adjacent began grooming decently with girls.
"It was harder playing against boys. At first, they would look astatine you like, 'Why is determination a miss grooming with us?'
"But aft a mates of weeks, they realised what I could do. I’ve ever been assured playing with radical older than me.
"When you’ve been doing it each your life, you don’t truly deliberation astir being young. Maybe that’s conscionable the idiosyncratic I am."
Even earlier her clip astatine Arsenal, James was utilized to playing alongside boys, featuring alongside member Reece, Atletico Madrid and England midfielder Conor Gallagher and Jacob Maddox, present of Yeovil Town, for a section squad tally by her father.
Moving to the North West
Having made her archetypal squad debut for Arsenal successful 2017 aged conscionable 16 against Everton, and successful doing so, becoming the club’s second-youngest subordinate to marque their debut, James moved to Manchester United successful 2018.
She was portion of a squad that was built from scratch that summertime and was managed by erstwhile England planetary Casey Stoney.
James admitted specified a determination astatine specified a young property was a large alteration but having Reece astir – helium was connected indebtedness astatine Wigan Athletic astatine the clip – helped with the modulation to beingness successful the North West and not having her begetter determination to connection enactment and guidance.
Speaking successful 2019, she said: "My dada ever enactment america successful the champion presumption but present I deliberation we’re astatine an property wherever we cognize if we’ve played good oregon not, whereas earlier possibly we needed to beryllium told.
"In general, I’m a precise laid-back idiosyncratic disconnected the pitch. There’s not overmuch you tin bash erstwhile you’re switching disconnected from football."
It was that laid-back persona which caused radical to initially question James’ desire.
Writing successful The Times, Stoney, the erstwhile Arsenal and Chelsea defender, said of James: "She has a laid-back personality, but it went against her successful her aboriginal years.
"People wondered: 'Does she privation it enough? Is she going to enactment hard enough?'"
James answered the question regarding her tendency emphatically arsenic she scored 14 goals successful 18 games arsenic Manchester United romped to the Women's Championship rubric successful 2019 successful lone their archetypal twelvemonth of existence, with aboriginal Lionesses colleagues Katie Zelem and Ella Toone besides banging successful the goals.
Stoney admitted that helping James with her affectional improvement was conscionable arsenic important arsenic helping her technically.
She said: "I learned truthful overmuch astir the encephalon and however the frontal lobe develops, which is liable for things similar your emotions, occupation solving and societal interaction.
"It was astir however psychologically we could enactment her and however we could propulsion her.
"At the aforesaid time, I needed to beryllium her constant, due to the fact that she was distant from home."
Following 3 seasons successful Manchester, James returned to London to articulation Emma Hayes ' Chelsea successful 2021, but Nigel was thankful his girl had the accidental to turn some arsenic a subordinate and arsenic a person.
He said: "It was cleanable for her to develop, successful a league that was a large starting constituent and with a manager who looked aft her arsenic if she was her own.
"Her member was lone 20 minutes away, too.
"There were immoderate amusive times there, and immoderate challenges; she had to larn to find her feet arsenic a increasing woman."
Return to the superior and planetary debut
In a testament to James’ capabilities, Chelsea agreed a woody with Manchester United worthy up to £200,000, a past grounds interest betwixt 2 Women’s Super League clubs.
Since being astatine Chelsea, James has won 4 consecutive WSL titles, 3 Women’s FA Cups and 1 Women’s League Cup, arsenic portion of a home treble for the Blues successful the 2024/25 campaign.
She besides won the 2022/23 Young Player of the Year grant aft scoring 8 goals successful 33 appearances crossed each competitions successful a run that brought further honours.
Having represented England astatine Under-17s and Under-19s level, James made her elder England debut successful September 2022 arsenic a substitute successful a 2023 Women’s World Cup qualifier against Austria.
Her archetypal planetary extremity followed 5 months aboriginal against South Korea astatine the 2023 Arnold Clark Cup.
But it was successful the World Cup itself that summertime – with England’s matches successful Australia – that James brought herself to everybody’s attention, 1 mode oregon another.
A brace of talismanic performances against Denmark and China successful the radical stages came earlier a infinitesimal of madness against Nigeria successful the last-16 led to her being sent disconnected for stamping connected Michelle Alozie.
Comparisons were instantly made with David Beckham's petulant footwear astatine Diego Simeone successful 1998 and Wayne Rooney's stamp connected Ricardo Carvalho successful 2006; players of large endowment who had antecedently seen reddish successful much ways than one.
James missed the quarter-final and semi-final victories implicit Colombia and co-hosts Australia respectively done suspension arsenic a effect earlier being utilized disconnected the seat successful the Lionesses 1-0 decision against Spain successful the final.
Talent management
It was not a lawsuit of simply unleashing James’ prodigious endowment connected the top-flight, with Hayes, who present coaches the United States, cautiously managing her improvement and advancement with Chelsea.
She said: "Her endowment is clear, but astir importantly we indispensable support doing the close things.
"If we each privation her maturation to proceed successful the absorption it’s going - spot me, I’ve coached footballers for specified a agelong clip – you person to support nailing the things astir them, the habits.
"She’s inactive a young subordinate and we’re inactive nailing those habits.
"I impulse everybody to beryllium calm with her. It’s important for america to nurture her successful the mode we do, but besides without monolithic pressures and expectations, which I cognize is hard to avoid."
James earned her 28th headdress successful England’s last warm-up against Jamaica successful what was her archetypal enactment for astir 3 months pursuing that hamstring injury, and it did not instrumentality her agelong to get backmost into the plaything of things.
It was her cleanable transverse that allowed Alessia Russo to caput successful the Lionesses’ 5th extremity of a 7-0 triumph and was a glimpse of the magic their caput manager Sarina Wiegman volition privation to spot from her successful Switzerland.
Wiegman said: "She's worked truthful hard to beryllium present wherever she is now. At Chelsea first, but past the past 2 weeks successful grooming camps, she could bash each azygous grooming league and did precise well.
"Now, this is the archetypal clip she could get minutes and we anticipation adjacent week we tin support gathering her going into France.
"LJ has played a batch up front, she tin besides play connected the sides. She tin besides play arsenic a 10. That's what I wanted to spot contiguous successful that 10 presumption and spot however that works. I deliberation it went truly well."