I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed that Nathan Delfouneso has been absent from the last couple of pre-season friendlies and is also missing from the Peace Cup 2009 squad. I hate to admit it, but it wasn’t straightforward tracking him down. The OS dropped a clue back in June when they ran a story about Delfouneso and Nathan Baker helping England qualify for the European Under-19’s Championships.

Turns out that he’s in Ukraine taking part in the finals. So far, England threw away a 1-0 lead in injury time against Switzerland in their opening game to finish 1-1. Nathan played 84 minutes. They gave up a lead again today in their match against the host nation, finishing 2-2. Nathan came on with 6 minutes left on the clock. A win against Slovenia on Monday will be enough to qualify for the semi finals though.

It’s been speculated recently that Nathan would be included on a season long loan as a makeweight in a deal bringing Fabian Delph to Villa Park. If this is something that MON is considering then Nathan’s left with little opportunity to show him what he can do in claret & blue before the season starts.