Grace Clinton’s star is fast rising, her guile and skill undeniable after a season-long loan with Tottenham last year and a blistering impact in Manchester United’s starting XI since September.
At a bitterly cold Bramall Lane on Tuesday night those talents were on display once more in England’s 1-0 win, but another characteristic was also on show: she is a leader.
In Sarina Wiegman’s B team – only Jess Park kept her place following the 0-0 friendly draw with the USA on Saturday – Clinton played conductor.
Making her fifth appearance for the senior side, the 21-year-old was the sixth most-capped player in the experimental team – with only Millie Bright, on 84 caps, Esme Morgan and Hannah Hampton on 10 and Park on 12 in double figures – for the starting Lionesses in Sheffield. But it was Clinton who was the dictator, a dynamic sun around which her teammates orbited, always there to collect and send on.
When England had possession Clinton wanted the ball, arm raised regularly, calling for the pass; when she could see the better option elsewhere, she would point to where it should go or to whom should go; if she wanted it into her feet she would gesture with both hands towards the floor. That level of leadership from one of the most critical creative areas of the pitch is exciting, and unusual in someone so young and inexperienced at the top level.
England don’t need depth in the No 10 position in theory but in practice they are light. Their Euro 2022 mainstay Fran Kirby is grappling with injury again following the game against the USA and Ella Toone and Lauren James are nursing calf injuries, the latter kept out for the last two international camps, and Clinton could be the answer, her onfield direction distinguishing her from her peers in the role.
In that respect, it was disappointing not to see the United player be handed the chance to test the budding relationships with England’s more senior players at Wembley on Saturday. Park was afforded that honour, before making way for Kirby.
When asked about Clinton’s surprising leadership for someone her age, Wiegman said that, in the first half in particular, it was due to her and the majority of the team feeling “very comfortable”, bar a few newer players who were “finding their feet”.
“How we got in the pockets with players close to her felt really comfortable,” she said. “That was really good to see. What I would like to see more from her is that she is overseeing things even when the phase of the game is faster than it was tonight, but you can see she is on her way and improving.”
That it was the Liverpool‑born midfielder who broke the deadlock to score England’s only goal across the camp was fitting, a statement of just how important a player she is becoming for now as much as for the future. That she was alert to the rebound, after Millie Turner had headed Park’s cross off the post to fire into the roof of the net, reflected the confidence with which she is playing. It was also her third goal in five games for the Lionesses and, although they failed to extend their lead, her link-up play with Aggie Beever-Jones was a highlight of a somewhat patchy match overall – to be expected with 10 changes and so few caps on the pitch.
Wiegman said that Clinton still “has to do a couple of things”, adding that the next step for the young midfielder is “to get into the squad more often and get consistency – but I was happy, and you can really tell she is developing”.
She is building that consistency. She already has three goals in eight games for United, slotting comfortably into the midfield. Last season she scored four in 20 games when on loan at Tottenham.
The Beatles’ Revolution and Oasis’s Half the World Away show that it’s possible for a B side to outshine its A side but with as many changes as here, there was little chance of Wiegman’s second string doing that across the board at Bramall Lane.
However, Clinton is the outlier, the player who looks ready for the main stage and ready to grab her chance to get a coveted place in the squad for Euro 2025 in Switzerland. In the new year, the prospect of the increasing integration of Clinton into the starting XI is an exciting one.
