Brighton and Hove Albion defender Tariq Lamptey has rejected a call-up to the England Under-21 squad as he works on changing his nationality.
The 21-year-old was contacted by Ghana in 2020 but made his England Under-21 debut later that year but the England Under-21 head coach Lee Carsley revealed that the African nation had approached the player again and he was “considering” the offer.
“He’s asked to be left out of the squad for a bit of headspace. He’s not switched, it’s not cemented or anything like that but he’s had an approach, we respect that. We’ve made it clear how important we see him to us. I know the senior team has as well.
“Tariq is fully aware of how important we see him – I have rung him every day! I probably shouldn’t have, I probably pushed him. You can only make it clear so many times. He knows where we stand with him. We respect he’s got a decision to make,”,” said Carsley.
The player who came through the ranks at Chelsea has been a key figure with Brighton but an injury derailed his progress this season.
The opportunity to represent Ghana at the World Cup later this year might prove too good to turn down and with some of the English players having changed their nationality, it wont be something strange if he made such a move.
