83 of the 220 players to line-up for their club’s opening fixture are eligible to play for the Three Lions – a 15 per cent increase from the 72 who started the programme last August.
More importantly for Gareth Southgate, 22 of those players were representing the so-called “Big Six” – the top clubs with regular European experience from which the England manager likes to draw the bulk of his players.
The upsurge is particularly important at the start of a season which culminates in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.
However, the FA will be monitoring the numbers cautiously over the coming weeks and insist it is far too early to look on one round of fixtures as any sort of turning point.
Particular circumstances – such as Chelsea’s young English manager Frank Lampard wanting to make a point with his selection may have artificially boosted quotas artificially.
However, over the years, the reduced number of English qualified players (EQPs) starting matches regularly in the Premier League has been identified as one of the major hurdles to overcome before England can compete for major honours.
Only one in five players starting games for the top six last season was eligible for England. In one fell swoop in 2019/20, that ratio has risen to one in three.
Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, in particular, also chose to give more head to young English talent, with half of the outfield 10 players that started Sunday’s 4-0 win against Chelsea on Southgate’s radar.
The experience gained by English internationals in reaching the semi-finals of both the World Cup and the UEFA Nations League may give other Premier League managers more confidence in picking them for Premier League matches.
In addition, a number of those involved in England’s recent age-group successes are now coming through at senior level to pursue their top-flight dreams.
And if these levels are maintained, home-grown heads will be held as high as they have been in over decade.
Those first weekend fixtures match anything that has been averaged over the last decade.
38 per cent EQPs in those 10 games is the same ratio as in 2011/12, the best achieved over a whole season in 10 years. At the same time, 33 per cent of EQPs starting for the Big Six matches the high of the 2012/13 campaign.
Worryingly, though, England still lags a long way behind the rest of the continent.
The figures still lag a long way behind England’s main rivals on the continent.
Last season, La Liga had 60 per cent Spanish starters while French players provided more than half the talent for Ligue 1.
But at least these latest figures bring England closer to Italy – where Italian players last season occupied 40 per cent of the starting positions, and the Bundesliga, where 45 per cent of starters were German.
Southgate names his squad for the Euro 2020 qualification double-header against Bulgaria and Kosovo later this month – at this rate he will have his widest ever field to draw his final squad from.
