Connor Wickham is set to win his eighth England U17 cap this afternoon when his side take on Sweden in their first European Championships elite qualifying group game at Northampton’s Sixfields (KO 3pm). The 16-year-old, who manager Roy Keane is confident will sign his first professional deal with the Blues on his return, has previously scored four goals at U17 level.
England subsequently take on Malta at Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium on Monday and finally Slovakia, again at Northampton, on Thursday.
Wickham is 17 next Wednesday which means he is able to sign a professional contract. Manager Roy Keane says his attention will turn to that on the player’s return to Portman Road: "We’ll focus on that when Connor gets back next week.
"I think this is a good club for him, he seems happy in himself, he got his first goal a few weeks ago and there’ll be plenty of time in years to come if he’s to go on to bigger things.
"We feel it’s the right club for him, his family know that, we’ve said that to Connor, so we’ll see over the next few weeks if he is going to commit himself, but we’re fairly confident.”
England U17s: Jack Butland (Birmingham City), Sam Johnstone (Manchester United), Nathaniel Chalobah (Chelsea), Luke Garbutt (Everton), Louis Laing (Sunderland), Bruno Pilatos (Middlesbrough), Jack Robinson (Liverpool), Andre Wisdom (Liverpool), Chuks Aneke (Arsenal), Conor Coady (Liverpool), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Joshua McEachran (Chelsea), George Thorne (West Bromwich Albion), Benik Afobe (Arsenal), Saido Berahino (West Bromwich Albion), Robert Hall (West Ham United), William Keane (Manchester United), Connor Wickham (Ipswich Town).