Three Premier League players have currently switched their international allegiance to the African side from England. Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah, Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi, and Brighton’s Tariq Lamptey are the three PL stars who have swapped England for Ghana. Ghana sealed a place at the Mundial at the expense of Nigeria after Ghana qualified based on the away-goal rule.
Members of the Ghanaian Football Association have held talks with the players’ representatives and even their parents. Nketiah and Lamptey have never represented the Three Lions and only Hudson-Odoi has played friendly games as well as qualifying matches for England at the senior level.
The FIFA rule states that players that are below 21 years old and have played a competitive match for one country can still switch their allegiance to their other nation if they are of dual citizenship. A few other Africans have done this such as Alex Iwobi of Nigeria, Wilfried Zaha of Ivory Coast, Ademola Lookman of Nigeria as well many others.
However, if they have never played for any of the two, they can choose whichever nation to kickstart their international career and this is the category that Nketiah and Lamptey fall under, boosting their chances of representing the Black Stars at the World Cup. Ghana’s head coach has been working to conc=vince some players who play for other countries in Europe to represent their ancestral land.
Frankfurt winger Angsar Knauff is also of Ghanaian descent and the player is open to joining the Black Stars. It is rumored that Knauff is catching the attention of Germany’s manager Hansi Flick and he could be called up to the German national team in the June international window, thereby dashing Ghanaian hopes.
The fact that Premier League young talents are switching their international allegiance to Ghana will also make others of dual citizenship reconsider their homeland and possibly change their nationalities in the months to come. With players getting ready for the World Cup in November, the Ghanaian trio will definitely want to be pivotal figures for their ancestral country.
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