When Gareth Southgate watched Southampton against Manchester United in February, he would have struggled not to notice Kyle Walker-Peters’ brilliance.
The 24-year-old, who can play on both the right and left side of a defence, has shown countless times this season that he deserved to be included in England’s squad for the friendlies at home to Switzerland and Ivory Coast.
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With Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool and Chelsea full-back Reece James pulling out of the squad through injury, it was only right that Walker-Peters was selected to replace them.
There was a feeling among multiple sources that the Southampton defender was going to be a late addition to Southgate’s squad, with the direction of travel heading that way over the weekend.
By Sunday afternoon, it was viewed to be a foregone conclusion. All that remained was an official announcement from the Football Association. It is understood, however, that Walker-Peters did not find out about his call-up until after his side lost 4-1 to Manchester City in a FA Cup quarter-final which ended just before 5pm that day.
Having played for every England age-group side between under-18 and under-21, this will be Walker-Peters’ first senior involvement — and it will allow him to showcase his ability and potential in front of Southgate.
The defender has featured 28 times for Southampton in all competitions this season, scoring twice and registering four assists. Not bad for a player who started the campaign playing second fiddle to first-choice full-backs Tino Livramento and Romain Perraud.
Internally, there was a feeling at Southampton that Walker-Peters should have been included in the initial England squad announced last Thursday. The former Tottenham Hotspur defender’s involvement will hammer home the club’s message of St Mary’s being a good destination to showcase your talent.
After not featuring regularly for Spurs, Walker-Peters joined Southampton on loan in January 2020 before that deal became permanent — at a cost of £12 million — that summer.
Just over two years on from that initial loan, he is in the England squad. This reflects well on the way the club sign young English players from top clubs and offer them a chance to play.
Southampton will undoubtedly use this as a tool for future recruitment, highlighting the fact he was not even making match-day squads at Tottenham yet is now deemed to be one of the country’s best full-backs.
And with Walker-Peters still having over three years remaining on his present deal, the likelihood is that he will only get better.
Ralph Hasenhuttl has helped develop the right-back’s game in both the defensive and offensive areas of the pitch. The manager used Steve Holland’s — Southgate’s assistant at England — recent visit to Southampton’s training ground as a good time to speak in effusive terms about his player.
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“They (England) know my opinion on Kyle Walker-Peters, and everyone has seen what a fantastic job he is doing this season,” Hasenhuttl said on Friday. “He is playing on both sides, and he is absolutely a guy to look at. It would be great for him (to be involved at senior level).”
His opinion of the full-back has been shaped by countless standout performances over the last season and a half.
Instead of sulking that he was out of the team back in August, Walker-Peters let his work on the training ground do the talking so that it became impossible for him to be overlooked.
Realising Hasenhuttl preferred to deploy Livramento, the summer arrival from Chelsea, at right-back, the ex-Tottenham player put in extra work to improve crossing and dribbling with his left foot.
This added versatility made it almost impossible for him to be overlooked and led to Perraud, another pre-season addition, making way on the other side. Walker-Peters has not looked back.
“I must say that I was never questioning if Kyle can play there because, with his quality on the ball, he definitely has the skills to give him control for the game there,” Hasenhuttl said in December.
Now that Walker-Peters has this chance with England, his form throughout the past two seasons suggests that he is going to take it with both hands.
Even if Kyle Walker of Manchester City, who is being rested for these internationals, Alexander-Arnold and James are ahead of their Southampton counterpart in Southgate’s pecking order eight months out from the World Cup in Qatar, that will not deter him.
While his call-up reflects well on England’s age-group pathway and Southampton’s recruitment model, the biggest hat tip goes to Walker-Peters for forcing himself into a position where he could no longer be overlooked.
And now that he will taste involvement at senior level, you would expect him to return to St Mary’s in a couple of weeks hungry for more.
(Top photo: Matt Watson/Southampton FC via Getty Images)