When England faced Germany at Wembley on Friday night, there is no doubt the starting XI was a shadow of what Gareth Southgate will hope to pick next summer at the World Cup in Russia.

Still, sometimes freshening up the pack is a good thing and after watching plenty of insipid displays in 2017, some England fans actually welcomed some new faces

Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Jordan Pickford and Tammy Abraham all started against the world champions and earned their first caps in the process. In addition, Joe Gomez would come on for the injured Phil Jones after just 20 minutes.

While most fans would have thought this is simply an England side fielding by default, Loftus-Cheek was easily the most impressive player for England during their first-half display.

The Chelsea playmaker, currently on-loan with Crystal Palace, has that same kind of special talent and unpredictability that Ross Barkley showed early on in his England career and the 21-year-old looked like he belonged on the pitch alongside some of the best opposition in the world.

His best moment in the match came when he totally embarassed two German opponents like they were nobodies.

With the ball by the right touchline, Loftus-Cheek proceeded to nutmeg two German players before Antonio Rudiger - also of Chelsea - foulded the starlet as his Cyruffed away from him. Take a look at the video below:

There's no doubt that Loftus-Cheek is a talented player and he wasn't afraid to provide the creativity the England midfield has sadly lacked.

Chelsea legend Ray Wilkins believes that, given a run of games, Loftus-Cheek can be every bit as good as Spurs star Dele Alli.

Wilkins told talkSPORT: “This fella has great technique. He’s got two feet, he’s got energy and pace, he can score a goal and he can create goals.”

“Dele has played around 200 games now and he’s only 21 - I honestly do believe Loftus-Cheek has the ability to be equally as good as him, no question about it,” added Wilkins.