Three absent Man City players underline how impressive England U21 triumph is

The future of English football is bright, with the men's under-21s lifting the European Championship for the first time in 39 years on Saturday.

The victory was heavily reliant on Manchester City, too, with Cole Palmer's free-kick deflected into the back of the net by Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones for the only goal of the final win over Spain. Blues goalkeeper James Trafford then became the hero as he made a brilliant penalty save before following up to stop the rebound in the 98th minute of the game.

That allowed City defender and England captain Taylor Harwood-Bellis to lift the trophy, having helped the Young Lions to six successive clean sheets throughout the tournament, while another City midfielder, Tommy Doyle, was part of the supporting cast who came off the bench to help Lee Carsley's youngsters through their campaign.

With former City defender and coach Joleon Lescott among Carsley's coaching staff, and with no side having more representatives than City's four players, it's fair for the Blues to be feeling proud of their efforts in helping England to another youth title. In another world, they could have had even more of an impact on the triumph, too.

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With four players in the squad, City had double the next nearest clubs in terms of representatives for the under-21s. Chelsea, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Everton had two players each, while Arsenal, Tottenham and ten other teams provided one. Manchester United had no players at all.

It was a surprise that only four City players were called up, too. Rico Lewis was given a summer off after a first season of senior football with City, with the 18-year-old eligible for the tournament's