English players Dual Nationality thread #2

Spain are ready to battle with England and Nigeria to secure the international allegiance of Manchester United prospect Victor Musa. (Daily Express)

 

Some countries do announce early for June matches in particular. (Or do an extended provisional squad like the Dutch do all the tim

 

For a country that is already struggling to retain a lot of its duals this is a pretty insane decision. Morocco probably licking their lips.

Disappointed by the Belgian FA scrapping U15 & U16 teams.

At a time when dual nationals are weighing options, this only makes it easier to pick elsewhere.

It's also sad that young Belgian talents will lose the opportunity to compete with peers at international level. 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/3OnWwu0zkt

— Football Talent Scout - Jacek Kulig (@FTalentScout) May 10, 2025

 

Is that due to financial reasons? Seems a very strange decision especially for the reasons you have stated. Surely things can’t be that bad that they can’t afford those age groups.

 

Must be. Through I suspect them bringing in the late developers group a few years ago shows they probably don’t support the current system of young age international football

Players with heritage in the DRC might be the next biggest dual group Belgium and they also quite proactive as well.

It’s not all plain sailing for Morocco - Spain’s opposition has talked at times about a Japanese style pick your Citzenship at adulthood policy which would likely see most Spanish/Moroccan duals choose Spain simply to avoid losing their Spanish/EU passport. That is also a debated issues in Austria (More Turkish and Balkans duals there.)

 

Norway must be disappointed to lose two as they’re not the greatest team. Ditto Croatia losing Sigur to Canada.

Johnson and Aarons to Jamaica feel like the two most likely to switch away if we lose any.

 

Sounds like the Citzenship reforms would mean youth players waiting for citizenship (And the FA has used sevreal in recent years some of whom have gone onto get citizenship) would likely need to use exceptional circumstances to not have to wait 10 years. Talented at sport probally does count but there hasn’t really been a lot of cases. (Football world will be much more interested in seeing if languages tests come in for footbalelrs and their partners - as I’ve said Sportspersons visa’s run normally in a sort of bubble with incredibly quick processing)

 

What is the list?

 

I haven't bothered and likely won't read up on this but are these proposals the same for adults and a children, most of the players we've picked have moved here as young children.

 

Harry gray named in the u17s. I know a few were saying he might go to Scotland (and he still might) but at least the FA are taking steps to secure him.

 

I mean players like Joel Ndala and Alejandro Rodriguez. Both of whom for a while only played non competive matches with the suspicion of not yet haivng a British passport before getting one and playing competitive matches.

 

There were 7 Jamaica-eligible players in this squad. 3 of these (Colwill, Gibbs-White, and Smith-Rowe) are cap-tied, so no worries about losing them.

I will quickly note one thing with respect to Smith-Rowe: FIFA allows for players with 3 or fewer caps prior to age 21 to switch. Emile Smith-Rowe has exactly 3 caps, all just after his 21st bday, but all prior to his 22nd bday. This is interesting to note because FIFA did reportedly consider a proposal this year to loosen the eligibility standard by adjusting the one time switch rule to allow for 3 caps before age 22, instead of 21. This change apparently didn't come to pass this year, but if it does come up again (and seems likely that it will at some point) and pass with retroactive effect (also likely, since prior adjustments have been retroactive and allowed previously ineligible players to make moves), then Smith-Rowe would technically be eligible to switch again. He's had a solid season for a decent Fulham side, and at 25 in July he isn't super old yet, so England doesn't seem too fantastical for him at the moment. But you never know - if the rules change prior to the 2030 cycle and he's still out of the picture in his late twenties, there could be something here.

Aarons has already turned Jamaica down half a dozen times and made clear his commitment to England. He appears further from England than most of the remaining 4 without cap-ties. He's been a full senior pro for 7 seasons now, and with over 200 club appearances has had 3 or 4 solid shots to feature at the EPL level, prove he belongs, and then stay there, but he hasn't established himself. This latest season saw him fail to crack an (admittedly quite decent) Bournemouth side, get loaned out to a mid-table La Liga club and fail to play there too. At age 25 with as much experience as he has, none of this is a good sign for his England prospects. But I still think he will not want to concede that fight and play for us. He'll be a lot closer to 30 when that happens.

Cameron Archer just got relegated and didn't have an especially explosive season. He's one of the younger names in this group but still has had several EPL seasons to establish himself at the top tier and it hasn't happened. I don't know of any solid rumours of the Jamaican federation connecting with him, but they're certainly aware of him and it wouldn't shock me if another approach came about. He might still blow it off given his age, but he's the second most solid of this group to come over in my view.

I think Jacob Ramsey is just close enough to England to be unrealistic for Jamaica right now.

That leaves Ben Johnson, who is pretty far from England contention (maybe even further than Aarons, despite having more EPL minutes as of late). There have been soft rumours of him being in contact with Jamaica and interested in representing. This would be a good fit for both sides, and the timeline works. I'd call him the most likely to show up for the 2026 cycle.

So, to summarize:

Can't switch: Colwill, Gibbs-White, Smith-Rowe (barring a rule change, which would move him down to the category below)

Probably won't want to switch: Aarons, Ramsey

Maybe Plausible Switch: Johnson (most likely), Archer

If we see Johnson alone, I'll be happy.

 

Absolutely nothing from what I can see. Jamaican federation was asked for a public update 3 weeks ago after yet another media report came out stating he was switching, and basically said "nothing has changed, he is still missing the same documents he was missing in winter, we are still waiting".

I do not expect him in a Jamaica kit any time soon.

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20250421/simpson-no-change-greenwood-situation

 

Axel Tuanzebe went across at end of last season as well

 

Its quite interesting how many of the French squad has switched and how many of the English squad hasn't. Being both England and France have similar quality U21s and first players.

 

To be fair we've had a fair few switch (of a higher profile) or choose another national team in this age group, Balogun, Musiala, Felix Nmecha, Olise. They just never made it to the tournament or made there decision long before.

 

Yes that's a fair point. But it just goes to show how stacked this age group is/was that we still won it after all our Duals had aready left.

 

It might help a little that such a large chunk of the more well embedded players with dual nationality are only eligible for what we can best describe as "less appealing" alternatives for senior international football.

The French have a lot of dual nationals who can play for Morocco, Senegal, or Algeria. These are nations with pretty strong football pedigrees, regular World Cup appearances in which they contend through the knockout stages, and they are close enough geographically not to require especially burdensome travel. They also offer AFCON which, while annoying to many European club fans, is a pretty prestigious tournament and an appealing stage for a young footballer looking to build his name as an international.

The English have plenty of dual nationals tied to big international brands, but given different migration patterns they also have many tied to smaller nations. As noted above, 7 of the duals in England's 2023 U21 title winning side are Jamaicans. Jamaica is not without some appeal - world cup expansion increases odds of appearing on the biggest stage, the country has been involved in three Copa Americas in the last 10 years. And in terms of quality, its at least a middling side and not a minnow like most Caribbean nations are. The brand Jamaica has is solid too (it's a pretty well known country/culture for its size).

But Jamaica isn't anywhere near the caliber of the other 3 nations I mentioned, ranking far below each of them on any given day. It is less professional/well organized than those federations likely are due to more limited capital, and you have to take a transcontinental flight every FIFA window. The Gold Cup definitely isn't AFCON.

It's a little easier to convince a player to wait when that's the alternative.

 

@Athlone

It's a factor but another significant factor regarding Jamaica is how well assimilated Jamaicans are in England. Most of the players we talk about are mixed Jamaican/English, it seems in France such dynamics are rarer.

 

For North Africans but plenty of mixed Black French from the Caribbean/white French people.

 

Agreed, British caribbeans are much much more well integrated in the UK than their counterparts in the USA or North Africans in France. That certainly makes a difference too.