Rice set for England call – after being named Ireland’s Young Player of the Year

Declan Rice has been named theRepublic of Irelands Young Player of the Year on the eve of his maiden England call-up.Having come on leaps and bounds at West Ham this season, the 20-year-old decided after much deliberation to switch allegiance from the country he represented at both youth and senior levels.Rice, who was born in London and has Irish grandparents, considers himself to be of mixed nationality and last week saw his switch to England ratified by FIFA as his three senior caps for the Republic came in friendlies.Wasn't the result we wanted tonight.. but on a personal level delighted to have picked up man of the match on my debut. Very proud moment for me my family. Big love to my dad who came all the way out to come and watch, love you #COYBIG pic.twitter.com/Ic8S9epKBi Declan Rice (@_DeclanRice) March 23, 2018Press Association Sport understands the 20-year-old will be immediately drafted into the Three Lions set-up, with the defensive midfielder to be included in Gareth Southgates squad for theEuro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro.Rices switch has sparked debate and the Football Association of Ireland put him further in the spotlight by announcing him as Young Player of the Year less than 24 hours before Englands squad announcement on Wednesday afternoon.A statement from the FAI read: At the time of the vote, Declan Rice was an Ireland international and qualified for the Young Player category in a year that saw him win three senior caps, all in 3 international friendly games. pic.twitter.com/QTYNaxU03I Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) March 12, 2019Declan Rice has since opted to switch his allegiance to England. The FAI has completed his international transfer via the FIFA protocols and wishes him well in the future.This award maintains the integrity of the voting process in conjunction with the Soccer Writers Association of Ireland and the FAI thanks the jury members for their decisions relating to the awards.The FAI has confirmed that Rice will not be at the awards ceremony on Sunday, when he will instead be preparing tolink up with his new England team-mates for the first time.Thomas Heaton has impressed for Burnley since returning to the team (Martin Rickett/PA)Resurgent goalkeeper Tom Heaton is set to join Rice in the squad for the Euro 2020 double-header, having shone for Burnley after fighting his way back into the side after a shoulder injury that ruled him out of the World Cup.In-form Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse is under serious consideration, two years after winning his one and only cap, while Southgate is weighing up selection issues surrounding several of Englands Under-21 players.Crystal Palaces Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Saints goalkeeper Angus Gunn are highly rated by the England manager, but preparations for this summers Under-21 European Championship may well take precedence if injuries do not bite the senior side.Aaron Wan-Bissaka has impressed for Crystal Palace (Craig Watson/PA)Joe Gomez, Danny Welbeck, Phil Jones and Marcus Bettinelli were all part of the England squad in November but are currently out of action, while Eric Dier, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph and Alex McCarthy have struggled for game time recently.Southgate was at Bournemouths 2-0 win at Huddersfield as Callum Wilson made a goal-scoring return from a seven-week injury lay-off, but there remains questions over the fitness of John Stones and Jesse Lingard along with Harry Winks and Kieran Trippier.The latters free-kick had England dreaming in Julys World Cup semi-final against Croatia, but his form has dipped this term and he missed Saturdays Tottenhams 2-1 loss at Southampton through agluteal muscle strain.Dele Alli set up Harry Kane at St Marys on Saturday (Andrew Matthews/PA)Dele Alli provided an assist on his first appearance since January 20 and assistant manager Steve Holland was at St Marys to also run the rule over Danny Rose, who faces intense competition at left-back from Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell.First-choice goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is under scrutiny after a poor display in Evertons loss at Newcastle and uncapped Wolves captain Conor Coady has been monitored, while Adam Lallana caught the eye with his man-of-the-match display for Liverpool against Burnley.Southgate is a long-term admirer of the 30-year-old, but whether he has played enough minutes to satisfy is an issue, perhaps too his profile as the manager continues to evolve the side.Ashley Young started Englands World Cup semi-final against Croatia (Owen Humphreys/PA)The focus on the future led Jamie Vardy and Gary Cahill to effectively call time on their international career after the World Cup, while similar discussions were held with Ashley Young in Russia.The 33-year-old did not follow the same path, though, and Englands starting left-back last summer has not given up on a recall.Ive not retired, Manchester United captain Young told Press Association Sport. Im not saying that Ive retired.Never been away with England and experienced something quite as incredible as the last month. Thanks to all the staff, my team-mates and the fans for making it so special pic.twitter.com/ASNM42fkJS Ashley Young (@youngy18) July 15, 2018Im still available if Gareth wants to call upon me. Ive always said that Ill stay available.If hes looking at younger, different options, then thats what hes doing.Ive just got to give my all for Man United and if he calls upon me, then Ill be delighted.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
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