Ella Toone: England’s understated big game player in profile

Manchester United midfielder’s sublime finish against Germany made her a household name

Like international teammate Chloe Kelly, Manchester United midfielder Ella Toone will forever be remembered for scoring in the Euro 2022 final at Wembley last July.

While Kelly’s winner and celebration made the headlines, in truth it was Toone’s equaliser that was the finer finish, the substitute staying onside to beat the German defence, latching onto an exquisite pass from Keira Walsh and delicately lofting the ball over Merle Frohms into an empty net.

She had already netted a crucial equaliser against Spain in the quarter-finals of the same tournament when the Lionesses were beginning to look beaten and has since scored in another final for England, the Finalissima to be exact, setting her side on the path to a 4-2 win on penalties over the South American champions Brazil.

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Growing up outside Wigan, Toone, 23, began her playing career with Astley and Tyldesley Girls, where she was spotted by United and drafted into its youth set up in 2007 at the age of just eight, her potential obvious even then.

However, after finding her opportunities for advancement limited, she left in 2013 at 14 to join Blackburn Rovers, breaking into the first team in 2015 and scoring an impressive 13 goals in 20 appearances.

Between 2016 and 2018 she was with Manchester City, but played for them just five times before returning to United for its inaugural season in the FA Women’s Championship.

She has gone on to play 99 times for the Red Devils and score 34 goals, appearing to particularly relish turning out against Leicester, having scored four against them and then five over the course of two separate encounters in 2019.

Like Rachel Daly, it was Phil Neville who first called her up for England duty and nurtured her talent at international level, work that has continued under Sarina Wiegman and which has seen her bag two hat-tricks in qualifying for the World Cup against Latvia and North Macedonia.

She will be expected to start this time around in place of the injured Fran Kirby.