Max Aarons’ emergence as Norwich City’s first choice right-back has earned him England youth recognition – but Aarons knows he faces plenty of competition at international level.
The Canaries star earned his fifth cap at under-19 level when he played all of a 4-1 win over the Czech Republic at St George’s Park on Wednesday.
Right-back is a position of strength for England though, with Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold all high quality senior options and Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Crystal Palace), Kyle Walker-Peters (Tottenham) and Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal) among the young options playing top flight and European football this season.
“I’m probably about seventh in line at the moment,” Aarons joked when asked about that right-back strength. “It just shows the depth that we’ve got coming through at England now.
“There’s so many levels, you walk around the training centre and there are so many good players ranging from the under-16s squad up to the senior squad. So it’s really good to see the amount of talented players that are coming through.”
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City’s academy product could be back in action with the U19s today, against Greece (2pm), but with another home European Championship qualifier to follow against Denmark on Tuesday, it’s likely that manager Keith Downing will be sensible with one of the few players in his squad already playing regular first team football.
“That’s been really good, another experience that 12 months ago I wouldn’t have really expected,” Aarons said of his England progress this season.
“I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s been tiring at times when I’ve had to go away but really enjoying it.”
If the U19s can seal qualification for the European Championship, it could mean heading to Armenia, in south-east Europe, in July for Aarons.
“It’s almost preparing you for the senior team, for World Cups and things like that,” he added. “It’s really something to look forward to and is a real motivation, the 19s Euros in the summer, and the 21s Euros (in Italy in June). So it’s all good motivation.”
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