Forget Harry Kane and Phil Foden, the Englishman from Euro 2020 most likely to be snapped up by a top European club may be Karl Standley.
He is not a player or coach but, as grounds manager for Wembley Stadium, Standley is responsible for maintaining the immaculate turf that is hosting all of England’s group games plus the semi-finals and final.
With billions of eyes trained on pitches for the next month, the UK has been described as the “Silicon Valley of turf”. Over the past 12 years English groundsmen have been poached by clubs across Europe to create pristine pitches for some of the world’s biggest teams.
Under the watchful eye of Dale Frith, a pitch expert for Uefa and former Fleetwood Town groundsman,