Bradford City keeper Sam Walker doing Euro 2024 homework

But while he will be taking in what England No.1, and former Bantams stopper, Jordan Pickford does, the game will act as something of a break from his pre-season homework.

Walker admits it is just his natural instinct to analyse the goalkeepers when he is watching football matches, but he also hopes what the world’s elite do between the sticks in Germany this summer can show him how to improve his own game.

He told the T&A: “Most football games I watch, I’ll be trying to pick little bits up from goalkeepers, looking to see how they go about their business.

“There’s such a wide range of goalkeepers now, with Pickford being one who’s always on the go and who's got excellent range of distribution.

Jordan Pickford was typically hyperactive in England's Euro 2024 opener against Serbia on Sunday night, and it helped him keep a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory. (Image: PA.)

“He’s also very intense and almost hyperactive, then there are others who are slightly calmer and do things in other ways.

“When it comes to major tournaments, you’re looking at the guys who are the best in the world, so it’s always interesting to see their different styles.

“I’ll be approaching the England games as a fan, but the other matches that I watch will definitely be about studying the goalkeepers on show, and taking the bits from their game that I can.”

Walker is a Chelsea academy product, and there are plenty of those on show in Germany this summer, notably England’s Declan Rice and Germany’s Jamal Musiala, as well as Dutch duo Nathan Ake and Ian Maatsen.

Add in Rice’s international teammates Connor Gallagher and Marc Guehi, as well as Denmark’s Andreas Christensen and Scotland’s Billy Gilmour, and you have quite the cast list.

Talking about why he feels like Chelsea’s academy breeds so many outstanding talents, from his own experience there, Walker said: “I count myself as very lucky to have had that footballing upbringing.

“It was a fantastic environment and I was blessed to play with and train alongside some of the best young talent in the world.

“But I was also very fortunate to be in and around the first team set up on many occasions.

“I got to spend good periods of time in with the senior goalkeepers and travelling with the first team.

“Seeing that first hand, watching these guys go about their business so professionally, how they dedicated themselves every day, was the best grounding I could have hoped for.

“For a long time at Chelsea, there was no-one who’d really come through since JT (John Terry), but that narrative has completely changed now.

“You’ve got guys coming through regularly, with the club captain Reece James being a prime example.

“But if you look across the wider game, I’d imagine Chelsea would be right up there in terms of guys they’ve produced that have gone on to have careers, at Stamford Bridge or elsewhere.

“Ake and Christensen are top examples of that, but there’ll be guys right across the leagues, like me, who had that academy upbringing at Chelsea.”

Nathan Ake (left) joined Chelsea at 16, but left in 2017 at the age of 22, going to establish himself as one of the best young centre backs in the Premier League at Bournemouth, before joining Manchester City in 2020 and helping them to four Premier League titles in a row. (Image: PA.)

Walker added: “I was fortunate when I left Kilmarnock last year and chose to spend a few months back home for family reasons.

“It meant I was able reconnect with the guys there and go back into Chelsea to train at the club on a daily basis for about six to eight weeks.

“It was great to see how they work with the younger keepers now, and the coaches were grateful to have my experience to give to those lads.”