Gascoigne has a lean and hungry look

"He's fat, he's round, he's worth five million pound.'' Not any more he is not. At least, Paul Gascoigne is no longer fat or round, and we are likely to find out this summer how much he is worth.

For the time being, Gascoigne is content to show off his present rather than discuss his future, and his present form is almost unrecognisable. Goodbye the Mars Bar Kid, hello Ryvita Man.

When Gascoigne first joined in England's training session at Bisham Abbey on Saturday, it appeared to be another case of a fan joining in, like the West Ham supporter who leapt from the crowd to take part, unnoticed, in the team's pre-match kick-in earlier this season.

But then, recognition dawned. It was Gazza, minus three stone. "He has not been as light since he was four years old," a delighted Terry Venables, the England coach, said.

"He looks tremendous. He has retained his strength through a combination of hard work and diet. He tells me he has been through excruciating pain, but he has done remarkably well.''

Gascoigne believes he is ready to play now but the comeback date set by his surgeon is 6 April and Lazio, his Italian club, are not prepared to allow him to participate in a full England training session yet.

Some more members of England's injury and sickness-hit squad were able to join in but there is still doubt over Steve McManaman's calf injury.

On the plus side, Rob Jones has emerged from hospital after tests on his stomach upset; Darren Anderton is getting over his tonsillitis; Gary Pallister and John Barnes (hip and thigh respectively) are improving, along with Teddy Sheringham (calf).

England's Wednesday opponents, Uruguay, had their match with the United States abandoned yesterday due to a storm with seven minutes remaining. However, Ted Buxton, Venables' scout, who was in Dallas, will have been impressed with the way they came back from 2-0 down with a quarter of an hour remaining.

After Uruguay, England's next game is on 4 June, against Japan, the first of the summer tournament with Brazil and Sweden. Gascoigne ought to be fit by then. However, whose club he will be credited to in the Wembley programme is open to question. Lazio have had a decent, if unspectacular year without him and the club may feel they should cash in on Gascoigne before he injures himself again.

If so, there will be no shortage of clubs touted as buyers. Newcastle would be the emotional choice but, as Peter Beardsley pointed out recently, such is the progress at the club if Gascoigne returned it would be as another player, albeit a celebrated one, rather than a messiah.

But Gascoigne's future is not the burning issue. The big question is: did Gascoigne have a dieting partner? Is his friend Jimmy "Five Bellies'' Gardiner now to be known as "Two Bellies''?

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (v England, European Under-21 Championship qualifier, Dalymount Park, Dublin, today): Given (Blackburn); Carr (Tottenham), Greene (Luton), Breen (Peterborough), Hardy (Wrexham), Durkan (Wrexham), Savage (Millwall), Boland (Coventry), Woods (Cork), Kennedy (Liverpool), Turner (Tottenham). Substitutes: Colgan (Chelsea), Scully (Crystal Palace), Farrelly (Aston Villa), Launders (Crystal Palace), Perkins (Southend).

ENGLAND: Gerrard (Oldham); Watson (Newcastle), Gordon (Crystal Palace), Pearce (Blackburn), Roberts (Millwall), Unsworth (Everton), Butt (Manchester United), Gallen (QPR), Shipperley (Southampton), Bart-Williams (Sheffield Wed), Sinclair (QPR). Substitutes: G Neville (Man United), Thompson (Bolton), Parlour (Arsenal), Fenton (Aston Villa), Marshall (Norwich).