Steve Clarke has confirmed that Newcastle United winger Harvey Barnes will not be switching to playing for Scotland in order to make it to the 2026 World Cup this summer.
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The 28-year-old currently has just one England cap to his name, but it seems he’s focused on trying to add to that and will not take the opportunity to switch his international allegiance to Scotland.
Clarke is preparing for Scotland’s first World Cup in 28 years this summer, and there’ll surely be plenty of fans already looking into how to buy Scotland World Cup tickets for this once-in-a-generation opportunity.
Still, it now seems to have been confirmed that Barnes won’t be a part of Scotland’s plans, with Clarke ruling it out and seeming keen to move on from the saga.
Steve Clarke on Harvey Barnes choosing England over Scotland
As quoted by BBC Sport, Clarke said: “It’s the perennial question, everybody keeps asking me about it.
“This time I can say for sure, Harvey’s going to concentrate on trying to play for England, he’s not going to come to Scotland.”
The Scotland manager added: “You can put that one out there. Nobody needs to ask me or Harvey about it any more.
“Am I disappointed? No, listen, Harvey can make up his own mind. We move on.”
Can Harvey Barnes make the England World Cup squad?
Barnes is a decent player who’s had some impressive performances for Newcastle, but it’s probably fair to say that a place in England’s World Cup squad looks a tad ambitious.
There will be a lot of competition for places in the attacking midfield department, with Thomas Tuchel having the likes of Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Morgan Rogers, Marcus Rashford and others to choose from.
Barnes has 12 goals and two assists in all competitions for Newcastle this season, so perhaps there could be an outside chance of him having a role to play, but even then it’s unlikely he’d be a starter.
Scotland fans won’t be too bothered about this decision as no one wants to see players coming in who aren’t fully committed, but it seems like a strange choice from Barnes himself as it surely ends his hopes of playing at the World Cup, which would be seen as the pinnacle of most players’ careers.
Barnes was born in England but has Scottish grandparents on his mother’s side. He has one senior England cap, plus 14 appearances at youth level.
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