League Two nomad vs Jude Bellingham in Euro 2024 showdown

If the beauty of tournament football is the threat that comes from unexpected places, then England would be wise to study the scouting reports on a Slovenian who once struggled to make it in League Two.

There are fine players in Matjaz Kek’s squad. None is better than Jan Oblak, one of the world’s top goalkeepers, and in Benjamin Sesko they have a forward valued at £50million who drew interest from Arsenal prior to his recent decision to stay at RB Leipzig.

But there’s also the understated challenge of Timi Max Elsnik, who until a few days ago was a mystery to English observers beyond Swindon, Mansfield and Northampton, or those who watch Derby reserves.

When England review Slovenia’s 1-1 draw with Serbia ahead of their final group game on Tuesday, they will see it was Elsnik who controlled the game from midfield and delivered the high-quality assist for Zan Karnicnik to put his side ahead. 

If Gareth Southgate’s staff go back to Slovenia’s first match, a 1-1 draw with Denmark, it will also become apparent that stifling Elsnik is the best route to reducing the impact of Sesko.

Denmark managed it better than Serbia but against each of those opponents, Elsnik exerted far more influence from central midfield in Kek’s 4-4-2 than Declan Rice managed in similar spots for England. 

That he has blossomed into a significant figure in this forthcoming fixture is a sizeable transformation from his time in England, starting aged 17 when he signed for Derby’s academy. He only made three first-team appearances, all from the bench in the League Cup, before entering into that familiar roulette of loan assignments.

After going reasonably well in 2017-18 at Swindon, he split the next campaign across Mansfield and Northampton, the latter under Keith Curle. ‘Our head of recruitment at the time was Lee Dykes,’ Curle told Mail Sport. 

‘He is now at Brentford (overseeing their analytics-based approach to recruitment) and Timi fitted the mould. Very technical player, very clever and he could see a pass. He liked to have the ball at his feet.

‘He is a really good person. He got on very well with the squad but he had a few injuries. He scored for us in his first game (against Morecambe) but, and apologies to him for this, from memory he should have got two.

‘He had something, but it’s so hard for kids coming over here. You go to a club like Derby and it is easy to get lost. You don’t always get the opportunities and when you do there is not a second to waste. That’s a big ask for young lads, so it’s great to see him having a good Euros.’

The end of Elsnik’s time at Northampton coincided with the end of his three-year deal at Derby, so he was released in 2019 and returned to Slovenia, where in five seasons with Olimpija Ljubljana he has won the title and their main domestic cup twice.

Off that platform, he will face an interesting task in Cologne, when he will contest the same spaces as Jude Bellingham, whose brief could change to a deeper role.

If Bellingham does drop back, he would be well placed to exploit a Slovenia system that has been prone to leaving chasms of space between the two tall men up front and the four behind in midfield. It could be a quarter-back’s dream and would put him in direct opposition with Elsnik.

‘Bellingham is having an amazing time, one of the best seasons for a midfielder,’ said Elsnik. ‘He is everywhere right now. He is always dangerous, always looking to get on the ball and score and affect the game. If a team is capable of stopping him then they are doing a lot to stop England.’

That is quite a task, even with England looking so off-colour. It is also a long way from Northampton, Mansfield and Swindon.