part of me is hoping the silver lining is that he won't be in the England squad and thus not be coveted by CL clubs.

Another part of me is wondering whether he's moving into the injury prone zone. He reminds me a bit of Jonathan Woodgate, but I hope this doesn't extend to length of time spent on the treatment table.

I think this is the only thing that could derail his progress. We've had some good centre backs over the past 20 years or so, he might just be the best of the lot in terms of ability.