England have lost their fair share of matches to Germany but now, in increasing numbers, it is players too.
Tottenham's England under-19 winger Keanan Bennetts has become the latest highly-rated prospect to swap the Premier League for the Bundesliga by joining Borussia Monchengladbach in a deal that could rise to £2.5m.
Some senior staff at Spurs were against and left upset by Bennetts' sale as they believed he had he potential to be another big, academy produced first team player.
But, in the end, Spurs agreed to grant the wish of the 19 year-old and his family - his mother is German and Bennetts played for their under-15s - by sanctioning a deal.
And with more and more youngsters now looking abroad, and at Germany in particular, as a better bet than home to gain first-team experience others are sure to follow.
Our colleagues at The Mirror have taken a look at the forces pushing young English talent abroad as of late.
Left winger Bennetts himself is following in the footsteps of the likes of Jadon Sancho by moving to a country where clubs have a more favourable attitude to young players and coaches.
Sancho has been the highest profile export after quitting Manchester City to join Borussia Dortmund in a near £10m deal last summer.
The move has quickly paid off with Sancho becoming a regular for one of Germany's biggest clubs when Pep Guardiola and City had earmarked him for a year with City's under-23s during the 2017/18 campaign.
Forward Ademola Lookman has also had a successful spell on loan from Everton at Red Bull Leipzig who would be keen to keep him.
Bennetts will join former Crystal Palace youngster Mandela Egbo and West Ham loanee Reece Oxford at Monchengladbach while former Arsenal and England youth striker Kaylen Hinds is at Wolfsburg.
Monchengladbach are also chasing Liverpool's wonder-kid striker Rhian Brewster and are well thought of amongst young players in England for kickstarting the career of Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen.
The increasing willingness of youngsters to leave England to progress has alerted Germany's biggest agency SportsTotal, whose top clients include Real Madrid's World Cup winner Toni Kroos and Dortmund Star Marco Reus.
They are using their strong links with clubs in England and Germany to help facilitate moves to the Bundesliga for promising young players.
The firm's CEO Sascha Breese, one of football's most powerful agents, helped broker Bennetts's transfer and also Dutch winger Javairo Dalirosun's switch from Manchester City to Hertha Berlin earlier this month.
With the exodus of youngsters from England to Germany showing no sign of slowing down they could be onto something.
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