Southgate receives hammer blow as Newcastle star ‘considers’ ditching England for Scotland

Newcastle United winger Harvey Barnes is reportedly ‘considering’ switching his international allegiance from England to Scotland. 

The 25-year-old was left out of the Three Lions squad for their European Championship qualifiers by Gareth Southgate, which has left him frustrated.

Barnes made his England debut back in October 2020 but hasn’t featured for them since, despite being in good form in the Premier League.

The winger left Leicester City for Newcastle in a £38m move in July after the Foxes were relegated to the Championship.

Barnes was an important player at the King Power, netting 45 goals in 187 appearances for Leicester, as well as making 32 assists.

Barnes has started well at Newcastle this season, scoring one goal and making one assist in four Premier League appearances so far.

He is yet to start a game for the Magpies, though, with Anthony Gordon and Miguel Almiron seemingly ahead of him in the pecking order.

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Barnes ‘considers’ switch to Scotland

According to the Times, Barnes is ‘considering’ a switch of international allegiance to Scotland from England.

The possibility has been bolstered by the fact that Scotland are on the verge of qualifying for Euro 2024, which they could achieve on Tuesday.

Scotland have been very impressive in their qualifier matches.

Manager Steve Clarke seems to have had a transformational impact on the squad, with his team winning all five of their games as they look to qualify for Euro 2024. This includes a memorable 2-0 victory over Spain in March.

Barnes has been approached by Scotland about the possibility of changing his international allegiance before, but he turned down those advances in the hope of becoming a regular with England.

He would be eligible to play his international football north of the border through his maternal grandparents. As mentioned, he currently has one cap for England, which came in a friendly. He is eligible for a switch because he is yet to earn a competitive cap.

The reality is that Barnes is behind the likes of Bukayo Saka, James Maddison, Marcus Rashford, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish in the England pecking order.

With that in mind, a switch to Scotland would give Barnes the best chance of playing in Euro 2024.

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