Jonathan Rowe: From England mascot to England Under 21s matchwinner

Rowe is one of three players in England’s U21 Euros squad to play their club football abroad, along with Toulouse defender Charlie Cresswell and Genoa’s Brooke Norton Cuffy. Jobe Bellingham, now at Dortmund, was also named in the squad initially.

There are plenty of other recent success stories of young English players moving away from the UK, too, such as Angel Gomes at Lille and Conor Gallagher at Atletico Madrid.

But the move away for Rowe hasn’t been straightforward.

He started just six league games last season, with 22 more appearances coming from the bench.

“It’s been difficult for me personally, the whole season has been difficult,” said Rowe. “The change coming from Norwich, where I was a key player in the team and then coming here was a big challenge with the expectation to perform.

“I have embraced it, and it’s been difficult. I have been left out of the starting XI a lot of times, and it has obviously affected me a bit, I think everyone could see that. I carried on going, though, and that’s the main thing.

“Even though I was down some days, I had to look at the bigger picture, which is that collectively as a team we have a goal, and I have got to do as much as I can.”