After months of anxious waiting, England fans were given a reason to smile last week when the news broke that Georgia Stanway is due to return to the Lionesses squad.

A cornerstone of Sarina Wiegman’s midfield and ever-present during the 2023 World Cup, Stanway has been sidelined since January after suffering a lateral collateral ligament (LCL) injury to her right knee during training with Bayern Munich.

Now, speaking for the first time since her recall, the 26-year-old lifts the lid on her gruelling rehabilitation journey amidst a race against time to be fit for England’s Euros title defence this summer.

‘Obviously post-surgery, you’re just in the gym because that’s the biggest time that you can work on the deficits. I think for me the Euros was always in my mind, that’s something that I wanted to work towards.’

Since her surgery at the end of January, Stanway has undergone 70-80 rehab sessions, focusing not only on her knee but also strengthening her entire body.

Georgia Stanway is gearing up to help England mount their Euros title defence this summer

Stanway has been a stalwart of Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses for several seasons in a row

And in particularly positive news to those with the hopes of watching Wiegman’s side lift another major trophy this summer, Stanway says: ‘Based on test results, I’m fitter and stronger than I’ve probably been in a very long time.’

Although Stanway wasn’t involved in Bayern Munich’s final title push, she fully embraced the celebrations – joining Harry Kane in singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ atop a balcony in Munich’s Marienplatz, clad in traditional lederhosen, as both the men’s and women’s teams celebrated their respective league triumphs.

As for the Lionesses, they have faced consistency issues in recent months, exacerbated by the extended absences of Stanway and Manchester City duo Lauren Hemp and Alex Greenwood – who have both also been named for the upcoming Nations League fixtures. But Stanway is keen to clarify that her call-up was not a hasty decision.

‘Of course, people will say I’ve not been able to play a game but that’s unfortunately due to the timing in which the injury happened and the Bayern season ending last weekend meant that I wasn’t quite ready. If we were to play this weekend, it would be another story. Hence why I am available for the Nations League. I know that I’ve still got a lot of time, I’ve got a lot of time to get back to the level (I was at).

‘I’m in full contact training, everything’s normal for me. It’s been nice to be back with the girls, and I’ve got just under two weeks of solid training to try and do my best to get some minutes.

‘And if I’m not fully at it by the Nations League, I’ve still got probably four weeks until the Euros begin. But yeah, that’s my aim is to be fully fit and at the level by the Euros, and then it’s up to Sarina, whether she picks me or not.’

As for staying fit over the next few weeks, does that include turning out for Bayern at the inaugural World Sevens Tournament – the new ‘grand slam’ series of seven-a-side games which is set to feature her Lioness teammates Mary Earps and Ella Toone later this week?

‘No, I’m not going to play,’ Stanway says. ‘I could play but I don’t want to risk it. I know that Sevens is a completely different environment, and to be honest, I’d probably get far too competitive. We’re all going to travel which is pretty cool, and support the ones that will play, but I’ll be in training like normal.’

The Bayern Munich star has been unable to finish the latter half of the campaign after suffering a right knee injury

Despite being sidelined, Stanway was an enthusiastic participant in her title celebrations

Despite the gruelling nature of her training regime, Stanway has also used the time away from playing football to hone her tattooing craft, a pastime she has described as ‘therapeutic’ for her. Not only that, but the England No. 8 says that she’s open for business.

‘For the last few weeks I’ve probably tattooed two to three people a week, which is pretty cool. At one point I didn’t have any clients, so I ended up tattooing all of my left leg, because that was the only leg that I could reach as I had a brace on the other leg.

‘It’s kept me at peace really. It’s given me something else that I can focus on. The feeling when you’ve tattooed something and you enjoy your creation, it’s like football.

‘The satisfaction of having a good game or the satisfaction of scoring or the team winning. You can almost replicate that in tattooing – the fact that somebody gives you the reaction that they enjoy what you’ve done on their skin.’

Stanway says she is keen to bring her tattooing equipment into the England camp but there’s a few ‘rules and regulations’ she needs to check first.

‘A few people have already offered for me to tattoo them. There’s quite a lot of the team that have got them already. Lucy Bronze has spoken about it, but to be honest, I think I could find clients easily.’

Stanway spoke to Mail Sport as part of her partnership with Celsius energy drinks – another essential she says she’ll be bringing with her to camp.

Away from the pitch, Stanway has become a proficient tattoo artist – and even welcome’s customers 

‘I’ve always been a big fan of energy drinks, I’d always have one before a game and I like everything Celsius stand for in terms of making sure that you’re focused in every aspect of life. For me whether it’s in my sport, whether I’m tattooing, whether you just need that extra push going into training, I get that from Celsius.’

As for her hopes for England’s huge summer ahead?

‘Like we’ve done in previous tournaments, we take each game as it comes, we don’t get too carried away. We try and keep all the noise in-house and nothing gets in, nothing gets out kind of thing. We do have a target on our back. We want to go under the radar, just do our job, and then see what happens at the end of it.’