Neville Kneville
Well-Known Member
Remember this ?
The Football Association has broadened its search for non-English players who can qualify for the national side after the failed attempt to bring Steven N’Zonzi into Sam Allardyce’s team and a shift in thinking brought about by the falling numbers of homegrown players in the Premier League.
N’Zonzi’s move was blocked by Fifa because the 27-year-old Sevilla midfielder, formerly of Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City, had played for France’s Under-21s seven years ago, but the FA is now investigating whether there might be other players who would become eligible because they have spent five years or longer in English football.
Allardyce is behind the change in attitude while acknowledging it is a “very delicate subject”, with the new England manager pushing for a more open-minded approach, in a similar way to Kevin Pietersen initially breaking into the England cricket team on the back of a four-year qualifying period with Nottinghamshire.
The FA did tentatively look at Adnan Januzaj’s potential availability before the Manchester United player, now on loan at Sunderland, aligned himself to Belgium ahead of Kosovo, Albania, Serbia and Turkey, but the governing body has always been reluctant to investigate the issue too closely when it would inevitably lead to accusations of more qualified English players missing out. Mikel Arteta and Manuel Almunia have also been considered in the past but, again, there was little support for the move within the FA or from the relevant England managers at the time.
I wonder if Bebe had an English passport ?
Guess we'll never know now.
The Football Association has broadened its search for non-English players who can qualify for the national side after the failed attempt to bring Steven N’Zonzi into Sam Allardyce’s team and a shift in thinking brought about by the falling numbers of homegrown players in the Premier League.
N’Zonzi’s move was blocked by Fifa because the 27-year-old Sevilla midfielder, formerly of Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City, had played for France’s Under-21s seven years ago, but the FA is now investigating whether there might be other players who would become eligible because they have spent five years or longer in English football.
Allardyce is behind the change in attitude while acknowledging it is a “very delicate subject”, with the new England manager pushing for a more open-minded approach, in a similar way to Kevin Pietersen initially breaking into the England cricket team on the back of a four-year qualifying period with Nottinghamshire.
The FA did tentatively look at Adnan Januzaj’s potential availability before the Manchester United player, now on loan at Sunderland, aligned himself to Belgium ahead of Kosovo, Albania, Serbia and Turkey, but the governing body has always been reluctant to investigate the issue too closely when it would inevitably lead to accusations of more qualified English players missing out. Mikel Arteta and Manuel Almunia have also been considered in the past but, again, there was little support for the move within the FA or from the relevant England managers at the time.
I wonder if Bebe had an English passport ?
Guess we'll never know now.
