Watch out for League Two nomad set to take on Jude Bellingham in the Euro 2024 group stage decider between England and Slovenia.

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If the beauty of tournament football is the threat that comes from unexpected places, then England would be wise to study the scouting reports of a Slovenian who once struggled to qualify for League Two.

There are good players in Matjaz Kek’s team. None are better than Jan Oblak, one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and in Benjamin Sesko they have a £50million-rated striker who attracted interest from Arsenal before their recent decision to stay at RB Leipzig.

But there is also the quiet challenge of Timi Max Elsnik, who until a few days ago was a mystery to England observers beyond Swindon, Mansfield and Northampton, or to those monitoring the Derby reserves.

When England review Slovenia’s 1-1 draw with Serbia ahead of their final group game on Tuesday, they will see that it was Elsnik who controlled the game from midfield and delivered a high-flying assist quality to Zan Karnicnik to give his team the advantage.

If Gareth Southgate’s side look back at Slovenia’s first match, a 1-1 draw with Denmark, it will also become clear that stifling Elsnik is the best way to reduce Sesko’s impact.

Denmark were more successful than Serbia, but against each of those opponents, Elsnik exerted far more influence from central midfield in Kek’s 4-4-2 than Declan Rice managed in spots similar for England.

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The fact that he has become a significant figure in this next game is a huge transformation from his time in England, which began at the age of 17 when he signed for Derby’s academy. He made just three first-team appearances, all from the bench in the League Cup, before embarking on that familiar roulette of loan spells.

After performing reasonably well in 2017-18 at Swindon, he split the following campaign between Mansfield and Northampton, the latter under Keith Curle. “Our head of recruitment at the time was Lee Dykes,” Curle told Mail Sport.

“He’s now at Brentford (overseeing their analytics-led recruitment approach) and Timi has filled the mold. Very technical player, very intelligent and he could see a pass. He liked having the ball at his feet.

“He’s a really good person. He got along very well with the team but he had a few injuries. He scored for us in his first game (against Morecambe) but, and I apologize, from memory he should have scored two.

“He had something, but it’s so hard for kids to come here. You go to a club like Derby and it’s easy to get lost. You don’t always have opportunities and when you do, there’s not a second to lose. That’s a big ask for young guys, so it’s great to see him win a good Euro.

The end of Elsnik’s time at Northampton coincided with the end of his three-year contract at Derby. He was therefore released in 2019 and returned to Slovenia, where in five seasons with Olimpija Ljubljana he won the title and the main national cup twice.

Outside of this platform, he will face an interesting task in Cologne, where he will occupy the same spaces as Jude Bellingham, whose tenure could evolve into a deeper role.

If Bellingham moves back, he would be well placed to exploit a Slovenian system which tends to leave gulfs of space between the two big men up front and the back four in midfield. This could be a quarterback’s dream and would put him in direct opposition to Elsnik.

“Bellingham is having an incredible time, one of the best seasons for a midfielder,” Elsnik said. “He’s everywhere right now. He is always dangerous, always looking to win the ball, score and influence the game. If a team is able to stop him, then they are doing a lot to stop England.

It’s quite a task, even with England looking so off-color. It is also far from Northampton, Mansfield and Swindon.