THERE HAS BEEN much debate about the international future of Jack Grealish of late, with a series of impressive recent performances for Aston Villa intensifying interest as to whether he plays for England or Ireland.
One player who has some idea of how he might be feeling is Bournemouth’s Harry Arter. Like Grealish, the midfielder has represented Ireland at underage level, despite being born in London.
However, unlike the Aston Villa starlet, Arter has already been called up to the senior squad, and may well make his debut in one of the Irish team’s upcoming summer matches, as they prepare to face England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Yet while Arter has always been enthusiastic when asked about representing the Boys in Green at senior level, the midfielder says he can also empathise with Grealish’s situation.
“I’m sure it must be quite a difficult situation for Jack,” he tells The42. “He’s got a big decision to make and I’m sure his family and friends will help him make that decision. Whatever he feels is the best thing to do in the end is going to be the best thing.
“If he wants to play for England, then there’s no point in him choosing Ireland just because he feels he has to. He’s got to choose what he feels is right. I don’t know Jack, I haven’t got a clue what he is thinking, but I’m sure he’ll do what he thinks is right.”
Ipswich midfielder Stephen Hunt suggested in a recent Sunday Independent column that Grealish’s current ambiguous stance could create tension and resentment within the squad — as a similar situation involving Stephen Ireland did before him — but Arter says the Irish team would welcome a player of the Aston Villa man’s calibre.
“At such a young age to be playing in the Premier League and performing really well makes him a top talent.
“I haven’t seen a great deal of him, to be honest. I’ve seen snippets on Match of the Day and little things like that, but he seems like a great player, and if he chooses Ireland, he’d be a massive coup for the future.”
In addition, the Bournemouth midfielder acknowledges that the vital upcoming Euro 2016 qualifier with Scotland in June is effectively a must-win clash:
“Most of the games are now,” he says. “For the Poland game, it was important not to get beaten and right at the end, we showed good character.
“The Scotland game will be quite similar. I watched the first game. It was a real tough game and obviously, Scotland came out on top that day, so we’ll be looking to get the three points and I think it probably is the most important game at the moment to make sure we win. So we have to go in there with confidence and aim for three points.”
