Which of England's U21 heroes can reach the next level?

England’s 1-0 victory over Spain in the final of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship was further evidence, as if it was needed, that the nation’s academies are flourishing.

Several have already made a name for themselves in the Premier League. Curtis Jones, who scored the winner in Saturday's final, and his team-mate Harvey Elliott, were key members of the Liverpool side who went unbeaten in the final 10 matches of the 2022/23 season, while Morgan Gibbs-White, Anthony Gordon, and Emile Smith Rowe are all established top-flight players.

The others are all looking to make the step up, using their victory this month in Georgia as a springboard for a breakthrough 2023/24 Premier League campaign. Here, Alex Keble picks out five players who could make an impact.

James Trafford

A double save in the dying seconds of the final against Spain, batting away a last-gasp penalty and the rebound, have thrust Trafford into the limelight – and it is no more than he deserved after an excellent campaign for England.

See: How England’s young stars reached the top

The Manchester City goalkeeper, who spent last year on loan at Bolton Wanderers, is a target for Burnley, according to various reports, and could become the latest Man City player to join Vincent Kompany at Turf Moor.

As more and more Premier League sides seek to play out from the back, their goalkeepers must be comfortable with the ball at their feet and willing to risk playing passes under pressure.

Trafford, having been schooled by Man City, has these qualities in spades. Meanwhile, his traditional goalkeeping skills are top-notch as well, as we saw in England's final against Spain. Trafford’s 78.8 per cent save percentage was the joint second-highest in League One last season.

A move to a Premier League club would certainly test Trafford's mental strength, but also provide him with constant opportunities to impress.

Levi Colwill

A rock at the heart of England’s defence, anyone watching the team’s triumph in Georgia will have sat up and paid attention to Colwill, arguably the most gifted footballer in Lee Carsley’s team.

Colwill’s future at Chelsea looks uncertain, with the 20-year-old recently admitting he has “got to play” next year amid interest from various Premier League clubs. Whether staying at Stamford Bridge or moving on, it would be a huge surprise if Colwill does not emerge as a regular starter in 2023/24.

He has the world at his feet. A left-sided and left-footed centre-back, he is extremely comfortable in possession and particularly adept at playing line-breaking forward passes, something he refined on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion last season.

Colwill has averaged 5.16 progressive passes per 90 over the last year, according to FBRef, which puts him in the 92nd percentile among centre-backs in Europe’s top five leagues. He is also in the 99th percentile for passes attempted, averaging 85.94 over the last year.

But unlike so many talented ball-playing centre-backs of his age, Colwill's technical quality does not come at the expense of old-school defending. He is also a powerful and well-rounded centre-back capable of dominating in the air.

Jacob Ramsey

Aston Villa’s central midfielder is the rarest of things: a young and creative English footballer excelling at Premier League level but somehow staying off the radar. One would expect a player this good, this consistent and this young to be over-hyped and under pressure by now.

Thankfully Ramsey has been able to quietly get on with things at Villa Park, where Unai Emery has been teaching him a new position on the left of midfield in a 4-4-2 – which is where Carsley played him in Georgia before an injury ended his involvement.

Ramsey is expected to miss the start of the season, but it shouldn’t be long before he is making headlines and muscling his way into the senior England set-up. The 22-year-old is an unusual profile, at his best weaving through the middle of the pitch and arriving late in the box to score, resembling an old-fashioned central midfielder of the sort rarely seen in the modern game.

Perhaps this is why Emery has preferred to use him on the left flank, where Ramsey can drift diagonally into the middle and dribble forward on the counter-attack.

It has clearly worked. Ramsey amassed 13 goals and assists in the Premier League last season, with only three players Ramsey’s age or younger registering more - Erling Haaland, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka.

All but two of his goal involvements in 2022/23 came after Emery’s appointment. A full year under the Spaniard should really put Ramsey on the map.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis

Having spent last season on loan at Burnley, the Man City centre-back has followed a similar path to Trafford and, although he hasn’t made headlines quite like the England goalkeeper, Harwood-Bellis is a face people will recognise.

That is because he captained England's Under-21s in all six of their European Championship matches, making him the leader of the defence that famously didn’t concede a single goal in the tournament.

The question now is where his future lies at club level, and whether he will earn minutes for the champions or move to another Premier League club.

Again like Trafford, Harwood-Bellis excels at the technical aspects of his position, looking comfortable on the ball at Kompany’s possession-centric Burnley.

The demands of the role might change, however, if he finds himself at another club, and in that case it would be interesting to watch how he adapts and develops.

Cole Palmer

It feels like a similarly important crossroads moment for another Man City Academy product, 21-year-old Palmer, who may look for a loan move for 2023/24.

He is reaching an age where regular first-team football is a must, especially given he has only ever started three senior matches – a testament to how highly Guardiola rates him as an impact sub for City's first team, but nevertheless something that needs to change.

Palmer may feel that time is now after a summer tournament in which he elbowed his way into the starting XI before shining brightly, assisting two goals and scoring the other in the 3-0 semi-final win over Israel before setting up the winner against Spain.

What we saw in Georgia was a ruthlessness and end product that Palmer rarely gets the chance to show in brief cameos at Man City, where arguably his versatility is a hindrance to him. Palmer can play anywhere across midfield or attack, with his intelligence and effortless grace reminiscent of Foden when he first got into the team.

A Premier League loan move may make a star of Palmer, but then again Guardiola could be preparing him for a bigger role at the Etihad Stadium. He started two of Man City’s final three league matches of last season, and if Bernardo Silva leaves the club this summer, Palmer might just find himself boosted up the pecking order.