Updated at 12.41
ONE OF THE Ireland U17 team’s most promising players has had his switch of allegiance to England confirmed.
As reported in today’s Irish Examiner and Irish Independent, Arsenal youngster Marcus Agyei-Tabi, who played for Ireland against England at the European U17 Championships in Bulgaria back in May, was recently named in England’s U17 squad to face Germany, with the youngster since receiving international clearance to play.
English-born Agyei-Tabi qualified to play for Ireland through his Portlaoise and Cork-born grandparents, but the lure of representing England ultimately appears to have proved too tempting to turn down for the 16-year-old midfielder.
It is the latest blow to the FAI, with Jack Grealish, Daniel Crowley and Patrick Bamford among previous English-born players to represent Ireland at youth level in recent times, only to subsequently perform a u-turn and switch to England.
