For a player who has been with Manchester United since a young age, Matty is everything you might expect of a footballer from Old Trafford in that he is technically proficient, intelligent and competitive.
Born in Bacup, near Burnley, central midfielder James has been a regular face in the England youth teams at various levels since first featuring as a 15-year-old for the U16 team against Ireland in 2007.
He then had the honour of being one of the first footballers to play at the new Wembley Stadium when he featured for the U16s in a 1-0 win against Spain underneath the Arch in north London.
Progressing into the U17s, who he captained, James continued to prove a popular choice at international level and he gained even more valuable experience when he was called into the U19 squad whilst still a year younger than most of his team-mates to help the side reach the European U19 Championship Finals in 2009.
He travelled with the squad to Ukraine for the Finals and featured in the group games there only to see his tournament unfortunately come to a premature end due to illness.
James then had the honour of captaining England again, this time at U19 level, when he led the side out against Russia in September 2009 and eventually helped the team to reach the Euro Finals again in May 2010.
Matthew, who also impressed on a loan spell with Preston North End in the 2009-10 season, also added a FIFA World Cup to his CV when he was part of the U20 squad which reached the Finals in Egypt in late 2009.