It will be the second time Jadon Sancho steps out at Wembley on Wednesday night, having won his second England cap there in November, and for the 18-year-old who has changed the way English footballers think about their future, this is the only Wembley Stadium he has ever seen.

He was born on March 25, 2000, six months before the closure of old Wembley and laughs when he is asked if he knew what came before the steel arch and glass that now stands at the end of Wembley Way. “Yeah, I know what you’re talking about,” he says. “I’ve done my history on that.” Then the Borussia Dortmund press officer points out with a smile that the Germany team played in the last game at old Wembley, and Sancho’s hesitation suggests he is not sure of the joke here.

He is talking to British newspaper journalists who have come to Germany to see him, ahead of his club Dortmund’s Champions League round of 16 first leg tie against Tottenham Hotspur, and Sancho is amazed at the level of interest. For this young man, football looks very different to the way older generations perceive it - an era when junior England teams are expected to win international tournaments and the top German clubs want to sign English talent.