It is nearing the end of the photo shoot and Cole Palmer, whose blank resting expression is perfect for modelling, needs a little persuasion to smile. Step forward his agent, Mark Rankine, a wisecracking character with a gift for piercing Palmer’s defences.

Cole Palmer has admitted that he nearly rejected the opportunity ... “I just knew I wasn’t going to play as much as I wanted to. Even when I was going to England (camps) with younger age groups, you had players there who were playing in the league ...