A rumour began to spread during the Republic of Ireland’s game against Georgia that Harry Arter is about to switch and play for England.
Twitter is an echo chamber, and given how Ireland’s 1-0 win was such a terrible game, it’s not difficult to imagine someone becoming bored and deciding to start such a rumour.
https://twitter.com/hughcahill7/status/784129215646076928
However, it also wouldn’t be that outlandish to discover that Arter, who has three caps for Ireland, is on the radar of the England team given his impressive recent form for Bournemouth.
It would be a shock, but as Arter hasn’t played for Ireland in a competitive game he can still switch allegiance to the country of his birth.
The 26-year-old pulled out of the Ireland squad to play Georgia and Moldova with injury, and rumours about his international future follow the decision of Ireland Under-21 international Jack Grealish to declare for England in 2015.
Jack Grealish will probably be deleting these 8 tweets right about now… http://t.co/P2OsMg19dR pic.twitter.com/W5vrEIEPp5
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) September 28, 2015
The rumour gathered traction to the extent that Martin O’Neill was asked about it at his press conference following the game.
The Ireland manager said he “didn’t know” about it, before adding:
“Well he hasn’t played a competitive game for us, the choice is entirely with the player, but that’s news to me.”
An FAI spokesperson later said:
“There’s nothing wrong with Harry Arter. He’s injured.”
