The 20 year old Tottenham Hotspur center midfield talent Archie Gray has represented the England national team at the youth level consistently for the past five years but never the senior squad, given the amount of talent the Three Lions have in the middle of the park with Ballon d'Or contenders like Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice within their ranks.
But senior national team football could be on the horizon for Gray if he takes up the latest offer on the table. Because Scotland national team manager Sebastien Pocognoli has reportedly approached both Tottenham's Gray and their former transfer target Hayden Hackney over in the Everton midfield about joining the Scottish national team, switching their allegiances.
Gray's grandfather Frank used to also play for Leeds United and the Scottish national team, so that is his track to playing for them. If he were to take Pocognoli up on this offer, he would immediately slot in the middle of the park with former Serie A MVP Scott McTominay and join forces with one of his Spurs teammates in veteran left back Andy Robertson.
Tottenham might want Archie Gray to pick England
But while Archie Gray could immediately scratch his international football itch with Scotland, who did qualify for the World Cup this summer, the U21 talent is more than good enough to eventually work his way up to the England ranks. He may not want to presumptively take the short term bait and join Scotland.
Plus, for Tottenham Hotspur, Gray joining Scotland would be a problem. In the short term, he would be playing more games and risking injury with Scotland, and while the experience of being the midfield general at the national team level could be beneficial, there is another issue that goes beyond the prestige of playing for a World Cup contender like England.
The style of football Scotland and England play are very different, owing to their traditions and how strong the sides usually are. At Tottenham, Gray is in a possession based scheme under Roberto De Zerbi that looks to dominate on the front foot, and England tend to dominate the ball more like that, though the negative tactics of Thomas Tuchel, who probably won't last too long at the job at this rate anyway, temper that a bit.
Still, Tottenham will want Gray to play for a national team where he can be part of a scheme closer to how Spurs want to play, and they won't want him to log too many national team minutes at a young age for Scotland on a team where he would not have the ball a lot and have to run a lot.
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