Gareth Southgate has quipped that England internationals are 'tapping each other up' as the Three Lions boss urged players such as Newcastle United target James Maddison to stay patient.
Maddison has been subject of fresh interest from both Newcastle and Spurs after his Leicester City side were relegated to the Championship. While Maddison has 'put the blinkers on', and focused on England's Euro qualifiers, the camp has also given the attacking midfielder the chance to speak to his colleagues about their club situations in the final internationals before the transfer window closes.
This is certainly not uncommon. Nick Pope, for instance, revealed that Kieran Trippier 'really sold' a move to Newcastle while on England duty a year ago.
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Twelve months on, Callum Wilson jokingly captioned a photograph with Maddison on Instagram with the words: 'Newcastle is this way'. Wilson has certainly informed his fellow Coventry native about life on Tyneside and Maddison previously joked how it was 'three on one with the Newcastle boys' during the World Cup last year.
Ahead of England's Euro qualifier against North Macedonia, on Monday, Southgate was asked about there being so much speculation about a number of Three Lions internationals, such as Maddison, and if he had told his players that he did not want them to discuss their futures during the camp.
"I haven't felt the need to say anything," the England manager told reporters. "The players are tapping each other up, anyway, on the quiet. I can't do anything about that!
"What I have said is that these things run their course. They happen in their own time. You can't force it as a player. You have got to accept that. Don't get frustrated, don't be asking all summer. You don't need to be updated on every call that happens.
"There's a lot of negotiation that goes on. I remember as a player getting too wrapped up about every detail of that. In the end, there is only a small amount that you can actually control.
"All of those things will happen later on in the summer and the players understand that. They know that the focus for the next 36 hours is this game, finishing the season well, making sure we sit on 12 points and we will be in a very healthy position if we do that."
