Hellberg unsure of 'brilliant' Lankshear's England chances

Published2 November 2026

Middlesbrough head coach Kim Hellberg says he has too many other things to worry about than whether or not Will Lankshear receives a surprise England call-up.

Lankshear scored two more in the 3-0 win over Charlton Athletic to take his tally for Boro to 15 in 16 games, in all competitions, as they cemented their place at the top of the Championship.

The 21-year-old has claimed 13 strikes in as many Championship appearances following his summer move from Tottenham and Boro's form and his goalscoring exploits are receiving wider acclaim.

Last month England head coach Thomas Tuchel said he would never rule out picking players not in the top flight with their clubs, furthering the possibility that Lankshear could make the squad on Friday for the Nations League fixtures with Spain and Croatia later this month.

"I have no clue," said Hellberg, when asked if he thought Lankshear would find himself in Tuchel's reckoning.

"I have so many things to think about in terms of my own squad in terms of ins and outs and I have a brilliant squad working so hard so I let other people worry about that one."

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'Will's a brilliant lad'

Lankshear has scored in all but one of his appearances at the Riverside and has scored two goals in four different matches.

Since the international break in September ended, he has been on fire, scoring seven times in five matches, including four in his last two in the victories over Bolton Wanderers and then Charlton Athletic.

The leading English scorer in the Premier League is Morgan Rogers with five, predominantly an attacking midfielder for Chelsea, while the English striker with most goals is Leeds United's Dominic Calvert-Lewin with four.

Lankshear even has more goals this season than England captain and Ballon d'Or winner Harry Kane, who has netted 12 in 14 games for Bayern Munich and the national team.

The Boro forward was part of the England Under-21 side last month, and Hellberg reckons he is already a better player than the one who moved to Teesside in the summer.

"Will is fantastic," the Swede told BBC Radio Tees. "He does everything every day. You can see the improvements through the season.

"When he arrived, he was unbelievable in the 18-yard box, and then he added on qualities in his defensive game that we worked with and pushed him to do, which he has done brilliantly and I am so happy with him getting a goal [against Charlton] from pressing high. He's a brilliant lad."

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