Young Newcastle star Elliot Anderson is being watched by the English FA as they are considering calling him up, despite playing Scotland’s youth teams, according to reports.
According to reports from the Chronicle, The 17-year-old has played for Scotland at U16 and U17 level – qualifying through his grandma – but now the North Shields-born lad may be on the periphery of having to make a big decision.
Scotland, allegedly understanding of England’s interest, are now considering fast-tracking the young midfielder to senior level so that he can commit to the Tartan Army for years to come.
Although these situations can often get messy and are not always the best for the player – it’s a testament to him that he is generating such interest, and bodes well for his future career.
As the previous report suggests, the player has been at United’s academy from the age of nine, and already has a boot deal with Nike.
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Despite only being 17, Anderson has been a regular within the U23s in the Premier League 2 competition, playing eight games and scoring twice. He has also managed to score three times in the U18 Premier League and once in the EFL Trophy, taking his goal tally to 6 goals from 18 games, with three assists – not bad for a central midfield player.
It’s hard to see exactly how this will go without fully understanding the player’s relationship to both countries, but it’s not exactly like Newcastle haven’t had players in such scenarios before.
Andy Carroll was in a similar situation before being picked by the Three Lions in 2011, and more recently Mackenzie Heaney opted for England instead of Scotland.
For supporters of United, this is likely to be really encouraging to hear that both countries are wanting to make sure that he plays for them. Also, if the reports are true about Scotland wanting to fast-track the player, then that speaks volumes of how highly they regard him.