The Everton starlet wanted by Europe's elite, Crystal Palace's £22m deadline day scoop and Liverpool's next hope: The four uncapped youngsters called up to England's provisional squad

Perhaps a changing of the guard? Maybe. Gareth Southgate seems to have put his faith in youth, having included a raft of emerging young stars in his provisional Euro 2024 squad. 

It could be a sign of what's to come from the England boss, with established names like Marcus Rashford, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling all missing out on the provisional 33-man squad for this summer's tournament in Germany. 

Southgate, though, has been clear he wants to give opportunitites to youngsters rising through the ranks. 'We've got young players with a lot of caps - there's no reason why young players can't lead,' he said on Tuesday.

Anthony Gordon, Kobbie Mainoo and Cole palmer are three players who have more than excelled for their club sides this season, and are among those emerging stars to have already made their debuts for England's senior side this season. 

But the England boss has also chosen to include a quartet of uncapped players in his preliminary squad. Here, Mail Sport's Joe Bernstein takes a look at their careers so far and what they could offer the Three Lions manager this summer.

JAMES TRAFFORD (Burnley)

Goalkeeper

Age: 21

Eyebrows were raised when Vincent Kompany went back to former club Manchester City to pay £19million for a rookie goalkeeper.

The experiment hasn't worked out in keeping Burnley in the Premier League but Trafford is still tipped for a successful career.

Trafford didn't play for City's first-team but impressed on loan spells at Accrington and Bolton and arrived at Turf Moor having won the European Championship with England under-21s – saving a vital last-minute penalty.

He was dropped by Burnley in March having kept only one clean sheet in 28 games and hasn't played since but in the same month Southgate gave him a first international squad call-up to replace the injured Sam Johnstone.

Trafford is regarded as good with his feet and following The Clarets relegation, Newcastle and Liverpool have been monitoring his situation.

JARRAD BRANTHWAITE (Everton)

Defender

Age: 21

Everton have been indebted to the 6ft2in centre-half who was drafted into the team after a 4-0 defeat at Aston Villa and went on to to form a great partnership with James Tarkowski.

Branthwaite, who started his career at Carlisle, spent last season on loan at Ruud van Nistelrooy's PSV Eindhoven and his Goodison Park future looked uncertain until Sean Dyche made the call to bring him in for Michael Keane.

Now there is talk of a £55million offer coming from Manchester United with the Merseysiders needing to raise funds to ease well-documented financial problems.

Branthwaite is superb in the air, a force in both penalty areas and scored three times last season. Being left-footed, he may also be an asset for Southgate should England's injury problems at left-back continue. He was a non-playing squad member of England's under-21s European champions and was called up by Southgate in March, though he didn't feature against Belgium or Brazil.

JARELL QUANSAH (Liverpool)

Defender

Age: 21

Arguably the biggest surprise in Southgate's provisional squad, Quansah only made his Premier League debut in August but has taken to the big time remarkably well.

A towering centre-half who looks comfortable coming out with the ball, Quansah spent last season on loan at Bristol Rovers. Virgil van Dijk's red card at Newcastle gave him an unexpected chance to play this season and he's grabbed with both hands.

The Warrington-born defender was on the pitch when Liverpool won the Carabao Cup this season and was selected ahead of Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez to play in Jurgen Klopp's last two games, scoring in both against Aston Villa and Wolves.

He's timed his run to international recognition perfectly and Klopp has been grateful for his consistency at Anfield when others were hit by injury 'How often he saved our backside in decisive moments,' said the German.

ADAM WHARTON (Crystal Palace)

Midfielder

Age: 20

Was struggling in The Championship with Blackburn Rovers only four months ago, now Wharton can look forward to training with Harry Kane and Declan Rice.

One of the few significant moves in the January transfer window when he joined Palace on deadline day for £22million, Wharton made his debut against Brighton from the bench – but has started all 15 games since as Palace soared to a top-half finish.

Composed on the ball, Wharton is also fond of a tackle and it's his energy and industry that make him a stand-out in the engine room.

He outshone Kobbie Mainoo when Palace trounced Manchester United 4-0 towards the end of the season. That performance alone may have persuaded Southgate the youngster deserved a closer look.