Nathaniel Chalobah's senior England debut against Spain was ten years in the making

For Nathaniel Chalobah, the journey that started with the England Under-16s in 2008 culminated in Seville on Monday night. Almost exactly 10 years after his first England cap, he made his senior debut, replacing Harry Winks in added time as England saw out the win.

You could argue that Chalobah’s eventual ascendance to the senior team was inevitable. He has been a hugely popular part of England age group sides for almost half his life now, winning a remarkable 97 caps between the U-16 and U-21 sides, always impressing at centre-back or in midfield with that rare mix of intelligence and athleticism.

This why Gareth Southgate has been such a big fan of his over the years. Why he brought Chalobah into his first squads in August 2017 after Chalobah joined Watford, before a fractured knee-cap ruined his season. When Chalobah returned to training, Southgate invited him to join in with the England squad at St George’s Park in June just before they flew to Russia. And two weeks ago, even though Chalobah has only played four Premier League minutes for Watford this season, he got a call out of the blue from Football Association physios asking if he was fit enough to join up.

For Southgate to include a player on the fringes of a mid-table side says a lot about his faith in Chalobah. “It was a lot,” Chalobah reflected, speaking after the Spain game. “I hadn’t been playing, and when that happened, it was like a confidence boost for me. It showed the manager had a lot of faith in me.”

But there were plenty of players in this England squad, and only one man Southgate turned to with the clock ticking and England hanging on at the Estadio Benito Villamarin. Southgate wanted some more presence in midfield so Winks came off and Chalobah came on.

Chalobah could barely remember that final conversation with the manager before he came on. “I don’t even think I heard what he was saying,” he admitted afterwards. “I was just thinking so much about the game. And I was so eager to jump on the pitch. Now I think about it I probably do remember what he said but at the time it was almost like ‘oh my god I’m about to make my debut.’”

Reflecting on the fact that he is now an England senior international, Chalobah said that could not even put his feelings into words.

But as daunting as it was to be thrown into a situation like this, it was not quite as new as it might have been. Chalobah has played in plenty of big games for England age-group teams: he went to the U17 Euros in 2010 and 2011, as well as the U17 World Cup that year. He went to the U19 Euros in 2012 and the U21 Euros in 2013, 2015 and 2017. Throw in the 2016 Toulon Tournament – that England won – and he has a remarkable CV. All those age-group gaps do count for something.

“I’ve been in plenty of games where we’ve had to hold out for a result, or we’re doing really well and I’ve been put in to see out a game,” Chalobah said. “Every bit of experience that we get through the age groups is something we’re probably going to encounter in our career at some stage. So for me, I knew exactly what my job was today and I just tried to do it the best I could.”

Chalobah has had to be exceptionally patient in his career so far. Loaned out six times by Chelsea before he got his permanent move to Watford, it took him until 2017 to feel fully at home at a club. Then at the start of the season he fractured a knee cap and almost missed a whole year. But all that hard work did not go unnoticed and Southgate kept an eye on him.

“It’s every young boy’s dream,” Chalobah said of his debut. “You play through all the age groups, from when we start at U16, the dream and the target is to get to the seniors. Hopefully that’s the first of many.”