Gareth Southgate says Harvey Barnes is a player England “like a lot” and Kieran Trippier praised Elliot Anderson’s potential amid talk of a possible tug-of-war with Scotland for the Newcastle duo.
There is an increasing number of players that have been part of the English set-up that have gone on to represent another country, including Jamal Musiala and Wilfried Zaha.
Angus Gunn was called up to the England senior squad by Southgate before switching allegiance to Tuesday’s opponents Scotland, who are now reportedly targeting Barnes.
The 25-year-old has yet to add to the solitary senior England cap he won in 2020 but remains on the manager’s radar, as does Newcastle team-mate Anderson.
The Whitley Bay-born 20-year-old spent two days with Scotland last week before withdrawing from the squad due to injury.
“Both are very good players,” England boss Southgate said of the Newcastle pair in the bowels of Hampden Park ahead of Tuesday’s friendly.
“In terms of Harvey, he’s obviously a player who has played for us. We have a lot of competition in that area of the pitch so he is a player we are always monitoring and he’s a player we like a lot.
“With Elliot, I think he’s a player who has progressed really well. We’ve previously spoken with him, but of course he was named in the squad here so assumed that was that.
4️⃣ Games4️⃣ Goals@elljanderson on fire in pre-season! 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/sT2nPc1h5v
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) July 29, 2023
“I thought he had an excellent pre-season with Newcastle as well.
“You could see that evolution that he has got as a young player and the potential he has got. I know at Newcastle they rate him very highly.
“I don’t know the answer to the ultimate question for either player, but there are going to be more and more of these sorts of situations.
“There are so many players with dual or triple nationality now.
“It is very complicated for every country and sometimes you can’t offer the player something as quickly as they like.
All 24 #ThreeLions players are training this afternoon at @RangersFC. @trippier2 will join Gareth Southgate for the pre-Scotland media conference later today. pic.twitter.com/xrryzfaBXN
— England (@England) September 11, 2023
“We have benefited from it and we have lost players because of it and I think that is always going to be the case, really.”
The pair’s club team-mate was sat alongside Southgate in Glasgow, with right-back Trippier full of praise for homegrown Newcastle talent Anderson.
“As the gaffer said before, in pre-season he’s been unbelievable,” Trippier said of a player who has represented both nations at youth level.
“I think it was good for him last year to stay with us and not go out on loan again, to gain that experience.
“He’s a young lad with great potential. Obviously we’ve had talks but, like Gareth said before, he went away with Scotland.
“Ultimately that’s his decision. He’s a young lad with great potential so that decision is ultimately up to him.”