An England call-up was so unthinkable for Emile Smith Rowe that when Gareth Southgate phoned him up, the talented midfielder refused to believe it was him.
'I had a message from Gareth saying: "Hi Emile, are you free for a chat?"' he told the FA's YouTube channel. 'I'm thinking: "Someone's just texting me trying to make a joke and pretend to be him."'
It was no joke, the England manager was getting ready to hand him his first senior call-up. But you cannot blame the 21-year-old for believing this was a prank given how unlikely this situation was a year ago.