Arsenal’s Gael Clichy has revealed that if he had been called up to the England squad before being selected by France, he would have been happy to play his international football for the Three Lions. One of the best left-backs in the Premier League, Clichy could certainly have been an asset for Capello’s England.

Clichy moved to London in 2003, but did not make his first senior appearance for France until September 2008 in a World Cup qualifier against Serbia. He has gone on to make two more appearances for France, but is behind both Patrice Evra and Eric Abidal in the pecking order. Within these five years, Clichy could have been naturalised as a British citizen and played for England.

While he is third choice for France, if Clichy had been called up by England he would definitely be part of the squad on a regular basis. Ashley Cole has made the left-back’s jersey his own in recent years but Clichy is a better player than both Wayne Bridge and Stephen Warnock, the current deputies. Clichy’s admission is an interesting one, as in recent years, the prospect of foreign-born players playing for England has been discussed. The likes of Mikel Arteta and Manuel Almunia have both been talked about as possible England players as neither has much chance of breaking into the Spanish squad. Whilst an argument could be made that Almunia is no better (and in fact worse) than the current crop of English goalkeepers, Arteta would certainly add an element of creativity to an England side that is sorely lacking in that area.

Naturalised footballers are a growing trend in international football; Brazilian-born players Deco and Eduardo play their international football for Portugal and Croatia respectively. Gerald Asamoah was born in Ghana and played for Germany; in fact a number of current German internationals were actually born in Poland. Italian World Cup winner Mauro Camoranesi was born in Argentina and has gone on record to say that he actually identifies himself as Argentine despite his success in the blue of Italy! England have been less quick to take advantage of these rules; John Barnes is the most high profile case as he was born in Jamaica and went on to gain 79 caps for England.

The national team is strongly linked with the national identity and it is important that players who turn out for England have a strong connection with the country, it is essential that they do not choose to play for England simply because they are not good enough to play for the country of their birth. In the case of Gael Clichy, he has said “I thought about it because I feel really good here, I feel really at home here”; whether this would have been enough to appease some of the doubters is up for debate. The fact that Clichy’s prior interest in playing for England is only coming up now is an illustration of the fact that it is not something that the FA fully investigates. The current England squad is very strong; but there will be times that the talent pool is not as strong as it is now; in these times England may have take a look at foreign-born players and learn from this oversight. When players of the quality of Clichy are interested in turning out for the country, it would be foolish not to examine the possibility.

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