Jamie Gittens is not one for talking too much.
Amid all the noise about his start to life at Chelsea – he came into this international break with zero goals and assists since his £55million move from Borussia Dortmund – Gittens has stayed quiet, particularly online.
On his Instagram page Gittens has posted various photos showing off his signature smile but typically without a caption to go alongside. The 21-year-old knows the only talk that counts for a player with his price tag is on the pitch.
Here he did just that. England’s best player on a night where a single-goal win over Andorra ensured their 100 per cent start to qualifying for their Euros title defence.
‘You always want to be a little bit of a spark for players just to get those regular minutes and build the confidence within themselves that they’ve got the durability to bang out the minutes,’ England boss Lee Carsley told Daily Mail Sport.
‘As you see Jamie is very exciting, as is Josh King, and we are very lucky with Ethan [Nwaneri] on the other side to have attacking threats all over the pitch. I’d expect this team to do some really great things.’
Jamie Gittens’ (left) moment of magic to teed up Tyrique George (right) in a 1-0 win vs Andorra
Gittens was so dynamic after scoring in Moldova and he must take confidence back to Chelsea
Opportunities at Chelsea have been tough to come by – he’s only played more than an hour of a game once this season and that was against League One Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup – so this England Under-21 camp has been crucial for Gittens to kick-start his season.
Much like Enzo Maresca, Lee Carsley is a big fan of Gittens and his 90 minutes on Friday away in Moldova saw him score his first goal of the season.
On Monday night at Pride Park it was Gittens, again picked to start on the left of a tried and tested 4-2-3-1, that provided the magic touch to set Tyrique George up for the opener.
Double teamed all night long by Andorran pair Nil Boutarfas and Marc Rodriguez, Gittens nutmegged one and brushed between the two of them with brilliant trickery before squaring into the path of George to thrash in at the near post.
In truth he should have finished the night with a goal here. In his 67 minutes of action his final act was to sting the palms of Marc de Castro in the Andorra goal. In the first half after a brilliant one-two with Ethan Nwaneri, he curled over the bar.
All Gittens has needed is confidence, minutes and to see the ball hit the net from his craftsmanship. All that talking he has no doubt wanted to do spoke volumes under the lights in Derby.
