Jack Grealish has been told he made an international error in choosing England over Ireland, while also being offered transfer advice.
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Represented Ireland at youth levelHas 39 Three Lions caps to his nameQuestions asked of future at CityFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Birmingham native Grealish, who started out on the books of Aston Villa, represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level from U17 to U21. In September 2015, the decision was taken to pledge allegiance to the Three Lions.
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Grealish made his senior England bow in 2020 and has reached 39 caps, scoring four goals along the way. The 29-year-old has been informed those numbers would be considerably higher had he not made a controversial switch between green and white.
WHAT ANDY TOWNSEND SAID
Ex-Ireland and Villa star Andy Townsend has told , who offer the latest Premier League odds: “Jack Grealish would have double the international caps if he picked Ireland over England. I've never agreed with the FIFA stance in the way that you can play friendly matches for one country, but because you haven't appeared in a tournament qualifier or tournament game you could then decide you want to go and play for someone else.
“That's not how I believe it should be. No one is forcing anyone to play international football. They're all grown men capable of understanding and making decisions for the here and now that are going to impact you long-term. I don't think you should be allowed to change. That's just an opinion. The rules are what they are.
“Jack would definitely have had a ton more caps playing for Ireland and he and Declan Rice would have absolutely been pivotal at the forefront of anything that's happened with Ireland. The two players would argue that the Irish team over the last few years has been really poor and it has. But maybe with their inclusion, it would have been a lot healthier.”
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Grealish was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s first squad as England manager, with struggles for regular game time and end product at Premier League champions Manchester City seeing questions asked of what the short and long-term future holds.