Everton defender Ben Godfrey could be a surprise inclusion in England's squad for the European Championships. 

That's according to David Ornstein, a journalist at The Athletic.

The lowdown

Everton signed Godfrey from Norwich City last October for a fee of £25m and he's gone on to make 31 Premier League appearances this season for the Blues, who finished 10th.

Back in February, BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty hailed Godfrey as a 'revelation' after an impressive debut campaign for the Toffees. He has averaged 1.8 successful aerial duels, 1.8 tackles, 1.1 interceptions, 3.5 clearances and 1.2 blocks per match minutes in the top flight in 2020/21 (via WhoScored).

The latest

Gareth Southgate is set to name his 26-man squad for this summer's tournament on Tuesday, and in a piece for The Athletic, Ornstein has said that Godfrey is 'one to keep an eye on'. Southgate has apparently 'watched a lot' of him this season, meaning that he's very much 'in the mix'.

Ornstein added that many players are still said to be unsure whether they will feature and are expected to be told only a matter of hours before the public announcement.

The verdict

Godfrey would be a worthy inclusion for England at Euro 2020, especially ahead of someone like Eric Dier, who has been culpable of numerous costly defensive errors this season. The Tottenham man has also averaged fewer tackles, interceptions, clearances and blocks per game than his Everton counterpart.

The 23-year-old Toffees ace has demonstrated his versatility by operating across the back four, making him a real asset to Carlo Ancelotti at Goodison Park and, possibly, to Southgate this summer.

Ornstein is right - keep an eye on this one, folks.

In other news, these Everton fans slammed one of Godfrey's fellow defenders on Sunday.