{"id":13738,"date":"2024-10-18T15:00:37","date_gmt":"2024-10-18T15:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/uk\/?p=13738"},"modified":"2024-10-18T15:00:37","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T15:00:37","slug":"arsenal-mikel-arteta-playing-for-england","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sportscasting.com\/uk\/news\/arsenal-mikel-arteta-playing-for-england\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta Says He Would’ve Played For England Instead Of Spain If He Had The Opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that he would have switched his international allegiance from Spain to England during his playing career.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 42-year-old spent 11 years in the Premier League<\/a> with Everton and Arsenal<\/a> but never received an international cap for Spain.<\/p>\n

In fairness, Arteta was competing for a midfield spot with some of Spain’s greatest ever players, including Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva, and Santi Cazorla.<\/p>\n

Now, he admits that the allure of representing England<\/a> was always present.<\/p>\n

Arteta Says He Would’ve Played For England<\/h2>\n

In 2010, when Spain won the World Cup, then-England manager Fabio Capello and the Football Association (FA) made an attempt to convert Arteta into an England international.<\/p>\n

Although the move didn’t materialise due to stricter rules around dual nationality players at the time, Arteta revealed that he would have made the switch.<\/p>\n

“I was thinking about that the other day,” Arteta said. “I was actually talking to Edu about that at lunch. I would have done it. I feel very proud about it.”<\/p>\n

Arteta’s decision not to join the England setup was partly due to the stringent eligibility rules in place at the time. Having been capped by Spain’s Under-21 team, he was unable to switch to England.<\/p>\n

However, the current rules are more flexible, as evidenced by Declan Rice, who has represented England at senior level despite playing for Ireland’s youth sides.<\/p>\n

“It was OK. If you cannot do it, you cannot do it. I wasn\u2019t prepared to fight against the world,” Arteta said.<\/p>\n

\n

Mikel Arteta says he would have happily played for England but confirmed he was not one of the candidates the FA approached to replace Gareth Southgate pic.twitter.com\/tgIkIsmquH<\/a><\/p>\n

— PA Dugout (@PAdugout) October 18, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n