The Aston Villa defender is close to obtaining Polish citizenship
Matty Cash has applied for a Polish passport as he nears a switch in international allegiance from England to Poland.
The Aston Villa full-back, from Slough, has Polish roots through his mother’s side of the family, with his grandparents having emigrated to England during the Second World War.
Cash has impressed since signing from Nottingham Forrest in 2020 and has started this season in impressive fashion, grabbing his first goal for Dean Smith’s side with a spectacular weak foot strike in Villa’s 3-0 win over Everton at the weekend.
Considering this, it is unsurprising that the 24-year-old wants to test himself on the international stage, with speculation over the weekend suggesting that his change of international allegiance from England to Poland is nearing completion.
Poland are ready to approach Aston Villa right-back Matty Cash to make him switch nationalities, as @TomCollomosse reported today. Confirmed – process started. 🇵🇱 #AVFC
Matty Cash is open to this opportunity – his mom is Polish, now waiting for passport to go through. #Poland
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 18, 2021
Stuart Cash – Matty’s father – has spoken to Polish news outlet SportoweFakty to provide an update on the situation, stating that it ‘should be finished soon’.
“We are in the process of collecting the necessary papers for Matty to obtain Polish citizenship,” he stated.
“We started this process a few months ago, it should be finished soon. We are co-operating with the Polish branch in London on this matter.
“Matty would like to prove himself on an international level. He’s been playing for the second season in the Premier League and national team appearances would be another step forward.
“If the Polish federation expresses interest, my son is open.”
In 2020, Cash was asked about the prospect of playing for Poland, leading the right-back to suggest that it was a ‘nice option’ to have.
“My mum [Babara] is actually half Polish and speaks the language fluently,” he told Sky Sports.
“There’s been contact with my agent about playing for Poland and it’s something that I would look at. I just have to keep playing well and keep progressing before I make any decision. It’s nice to have an option.”
With Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James, Kyle Waker and Kieran Trippier operating as Gareth Southgate’s current right-back options, Cash evidently faces an uphill battle to work his way into the England manager’s plans.
The Three Lions and Poland faced-off earlier this month in a World Cup qualifier, with Damian Szymanski’s injury-time header cancelling out Harry Kane’s opener.
After Paulo Sousa revealed his latest squad for Poland’s next round of World Cup qualifies in October, some fans took to social media to joke about Cash not being listed in the squad.
However, Jakub Kwiatkowski – the national team’s media manager – was quick to dismiss reports regarding the defender.
“I can see that English journalists “know” more of what is happening in the Polish team,” wrote Kwiatkowski on Twitter.
“There was and there is no subject of Matthew Cash’s game in the Polish national team. The topic cannot be, because Cash does not have Polish citizenship.”
Whilst reports of Cash’s switch of international allegiance are yet to be confirmed by the player or Poland, it does appear that, as per his father, it is simply a matter of time before it all goes through.
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