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Spain Considering Bringing Tottenham Youngster Into National Team Fold

Spain Considering Bringing Tottenham Youngster Into National Team Fold

The English youngster is eligible to play for Spain.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Spain's national side is stocked with quality, particularly in central midfield, but it appears as though La Roja are always looking at new candidates for future call-ups.

Reports have indicated that Spain are considering calling up Spurs midfielder Harry Winks to the squad.

Yes, you read that correctly.

It's not as if Spain have the ability to pick and choose players they fancy and be like "Oi mate, you're good at footy, you're Spanish now" - players have to qualify and meet certain regulations to be eligible.

Winks, who has made great progress under Mauricio Pochettino at White Hart Lane this season, has Spanish grandparents and that has apparently intrigued Spanish national team chiefs.

The 20-year old has turned out for various England youth levels such as Under 20's, but he has yet to play in an official fixture for the Under 21 side.

Like his Spurs colleague Dele Alli, Winks is regarded as a top talent who could potentially be a big player for England in the future and news that he could be called up by Spain would be of great concern to those in the FA.

In the past, England have enquired about a number of players and seeing if they are eligible to play for The Three Lions. French duo Moussa Dembele and Steven N'Zonzi are just two of the names to have been touted, while Spaniards Mikel Arteta and Manuel Almunia were linked a few years back.

Players switching national team allegiances isn't an anomaly in football. Wilfried Zaha recently changed from England to Ivory Coast and a host of other players have done so.

Here is our XI of players to have switched national team allegiance:

NOTE: We have only included those who have actually played for two or more countries at youth level and above, thus ruling it the likes of Miroslav Klose, Pepe and Lukas Podolski who were all born in one country and played for another.

GK: Asmir Begovic

We start with Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, who moved to Canada when he was 10 years old and represented them at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2007. However, he changed allegiance in 2009 to play for his native Bosnia and Herzegovina and played in the 2014 World Cup.

RB: Taulant Xhaka

Brother to Arsenal midfielder Granit, Taulant Xhaka represented Switzerland at every youth level from U-17's right through to U-21's but chose his Albanian roots and faced his brother in Euro 2016 when Switzerland and Albania were placed in the same group. They became the first pair of brothers to play against one another in European Championship history.

CB: Neven Subotic

The Borussia Dortmund man was a regular in the USA U-17 and U-20 sides but opted to play for Serbia and turned out for his country at the 2010 World Cup. He was also eligible to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

LB: Faouzi Ghoulam

The Napoli left-back was born in France to Algerian parents but always maintained that he would represent Algeria as a full international. He played a couple of games for France's U-21 but has otherwise committed to his roots, playing for Algeria at both the 2014 World Cup and African Cup of Nations.

CM: Thiago Motta

PSG playmaker Thiago Motta was born in Brazil but is also an Italian Citizen. He represented Seleção at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2003 but later went on to play for Italy after being granted FIFA clearance when named in the squad back in 2011 - his Italian links come from his grandfather. The 34-year old was part of Italy's squad for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Euro's.

CM: Owen Hargreaves

Owen Hargreaves has an interesting background when it comes to nationalities. The former Manchester United and City midfielder was born in Canada to a English father and Welsh mother and then joined the youth ranks at Bayern Munich at the age of 16. He played for Wales at the 1998 Milk Cup but then switched allegiance to England and went on to become the only English player to have played for England without actually ever living in the country when he made his debut in 2001.

CM: Kevin Prince-Boateng

Much like his half-brother Jerome Boateng, Kevin Prince-Boateng came through the youth ranks at Hertha Berlin and played for Germany at youth level up until U-21's. But he wanted to represent his Ghanaian heritage and after acquiring his Ghanaian passport, has played for the Black stars in two World Cups.

RM: Nacer Chadli

West Brom winger Nacer Chadli made a single appearance for Morocco at international level in a friendly against Northern Ireland, however a year later he elected to play for Belgium and has done so ever since.

LM: James McClean

The second West Brom man on the list is James McClean, who was born in Northern Ireland and played for his home country at U21 level on several occasions. When a full international came though, McClean rejected and instead chose to play for Republic of Ireland - a decision that led to him receiving death threats and a whole lot of abuse when he was included in Ireland's Euro 2012 squad.

ST: Diego Costa

One of the most recent examples of players changing their allegiance saw Diego Costa play twice for his native Brazil but then apply for Spanish Citizenship and don the red shirt of La Roja. He made his Spain debut in 2014 and his since represented his adopted nation at the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016. Brazilians are still not happy that he turned his back on them.

ST: Alfredo Di Stefano

Undoubtedly the most famous scenario of a player playing for more than national team is provided by Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano. Incredibly, he played for Argentina, Colombia and Spain in his international career. He was born in, and represented Argentina but then went on to play for Colombia, though his appearances are not recognised by FIFA.

Two countries clearly wasn't enough though, and he was later granted Spanish Citizenship, playing for Spain between 1957 and 1961, scoring 23 goals.

And there we have it, a full team of players who played for more than one national team. Did we miss any high-profile names out? Let us know in the comments.

(h/t The Mirror)

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Topics: Harry Winks, England, Spain