Lee’s preferred midfield trio of Anderson, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham is bold, but not hard to understand.
That matters because tournament football is rarely won by reputation alone. It is won by balance, legs and players who can handle different game states. Lee also points to a simple truth around Harry Kane: England still look heavily dependent on him, so the midfield has to carry more of the workload behind him.
The other part of the argument cuts deeper on Tyneside. Anderson left for £35m when Newcastle needed to satisfy profit and sustainability rules and avoid a points deduction. At the time, it looked like a painful but necessary sale. Two years on, it looks more like a warning about the cost of losing academy talent at the wrong moment.
Lee’s wider point is fair: a system that pushes clubs toward selling homegrown players can leave lasting scars.
Probably, yes. Lee accepts Anderson may not have found the same route to regular football at Newcastle, where Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali were blocking the path. Development is often about timing as much as talent, and Anderson appears to have found both after the move.
That is what makes the England conversation interesting now. If Thomas Tuchel gets his midfield calls right, England should believe they can come through the group and grow into the tournament. The next storyline to watch is whether Anderson moves from outside shout to genuine starter before the knockout rounds arrive.