England are determined to to leave no stone unturned when it comes to dual-nationality players.

West Ham midfielder Declan Rice was eligible for Republic of Ireland and played for them at youth level and in three senior friendlies before accepting England's call.

Gareth Southgate chose not to call up Crystal Palace's Aaron Wan-Bissaka even though he is eligible for Congo; Angus Gunn has opted to play for England despite being eligible for Scotland; and Jack Grealish opted to play for England rather than Ireland.

And England have been told dual nationalities will become even more of an increasing issue with the next generation as, incredibly, it has been claimed that 55 of the 75 under-15s players on the FA radar can play for other countries.

Ex-FA chief Dan Ashworth, who is now at Brighton , said: “It generates great debate. 'If they are not born in England, they can't play for England!' You look at other sports and other countries, and you want to recruit from the biggest pool you possibly can.

“You would not want to restrict yourself as a recruiter. You need to make sure you have got as big a pool as possible of people who are eligible through the rules and regulations – your 'grandparenting rule'.

“The rules are there for a particular reason and every other nation is using those rules to expand their pools of players. Why isn't England? That would be my view. If the player is eligible and he wants to play for England – why not?"