From the moment Adnan Januzaj scored a tremendous brace against Sunderland, the English press and manager Roy Hodgson have inferred that they would like the Manchester United to play for England in the future.
The Belgian-born 18-year-old joined United aged 16 and could become eligble for England on residency grounds after five years living in the UK.
Januzaj has not made a decision regarding his international future with the country of his birth Belgium and his parents' nation Albania hoping for him to join their ranks. Based on his background he is also eligible for Serbia or Kosovo who are not a member of UEFA or FIFA.
So far, Januzaj has refused all call ups to the Belgium youth teams, with some believing that he favours Albania. However he has never represented Albania at any level either.
The FA only have a miniscule chance of luring him into the fold, but Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere is reluctant for players not born and raised in England to represent the Three Lions.
"The only people who should play for England are English people," he said. "If you live in England for five years it doesn't make you English. If I went to Spain and lived there for five years I am not going to play for Spain. We have to remember what we are. We are English. We tackle hard, are tough on the pitch and are hard to beat. We have great characters. You think of Spain and you think technical but you think of England and you think they are brave and they tackle hard. We have to remember that."
The issue of naturalization is a thorny issue in football as certain countries took advantage of previously loose laws in the past, often recruiting Brazilian players.
Since then FIFA have created the following rules regarding eligibility:
- He was born on the territory of the relevant Association;
- His biological mother or biological father was born on the territory of the relevant Association;
- His grandmother or grandfather was born on the territory of the relevant Association;
- He has lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of the relevant Association.
