Richard Buxton: England searching for the next Gazza
Can Sancho and Mount succeed where many pretenders have failed?
Gareth Southgate already knows he may be embarking on an impossible task.
Working near miracles in ending a 28-year penalty shoot-out curse is one thing, but some challenges reach far beyond even the current patron saint of English football's abilities.
Unearthing the next Paul Gascoigne remains the Three Lions' elusive holy grail.
Two decades have elapsed since "Gazza" last graced an England shirt. He bowed out as a spent force who, by then, was trading off past glories with a heavily tortured body and mind.
A rematch of his country's World Cup semi-final clash with Croatia in the Uefa Nations League on Saturday morning (Singapore time) will lay bare the task currently confronting Southgate.
Three months ago in Moscow, Luka Modric led England's players in a merry dance while Thiago Alcantara did similar as the grand conductor as Spain stunned Wembley in September.
Gascoigne remains the national side's default buzzword for an elite-level playmaker. By Southgate's own admission, they have yet to produce anyone as technically gifted since him.
His predecessor Roy Hodgson blunderingly heralded Ross Barkley as the midfielder's heir apparent. It was the ultimate kiss of death from the man with a reverse Midas touch.
Only now, four years on, is Barkley beginning to regain a semblance of the form which prompted such premature comparisons since joining Chelsea from Everton in January.
Dele Alli is another who has been set the unrealistic challenge of emerging from the shadow of Gascoigne's sceptre, with Sir Alex Ferguson hailing the Tottenham Hotspur man as England's best young creative talent since he unsuccessfully attempted to lure him to Manchester United.
But recreating an on-field embodiment of Gascoigne in the current generation of England players cannot rest solely on a solitary pair of shoulders. It requires a multi-faceted approach.
Southgate opted for boldness in his World Cup selections, selecting a crop of largely inexperienced players at the highest level of international football in Russia, and has taken a similar leap of faith with several left-field choices for this Nations League double-header.
Jadon Sancho's inclusion is a natural conclusion on the back of a flying start at Borussia Dortmund, where the winger produced one goal and six assists in 367 minutes of game time.
Beyond opposition defenders, Sancho is not averse to taking on issues with a maturity which belies his teenage years.
At 17, he left Manchester City having turned down of a club-record contract in favour of pursuing regular first-team football overseas with the Bundesliga giants.
Venturing outside of the comfort zone has already reaped rewards for Sancho at a time when Phil Foden, his former teammate at the Etihad Stadium, finds himself beset by comparisons with Andres Iniesta and, crucially, still kicking his heels in the wait for a senior call-up.
Similar could be argued for Mason Mount, a two-season veteran of Chelsea's ever-growing legion of loanees.
The midfielder had caught Southgate's eye long before linking up with Frank Lampard at Derby County, but his Stamford Bridge sabbatical paved the way.
Neither player can assume Gascoigne's mantle in his own right, nor should he be allowed to.
England relying solely on a lottery of individual brilliance to see them through carries its own cautionary tales beyond that flawed genius. Just ask Wayne Rooney and David Beckham.
Splitting the atom on a footballing level is often easier said than done. But, if Southgate remains intent on building for the future, England need to embrace their own nuclear fission.
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