Lamptey, Inaki Williams join Black Stars, Hudson Odoi waiting for England
Ghana have made a strong representation to Hudson-Odoi, the Chelsea forward, about switching allegiance before the World Cup
Ghanaian-born English player Tariq Lamptey has switched international allegiance from England to Ghana before the World Cup in Qatar this year.
The Brighton & Hove Albion defender, 21, reached his decision after asking to be exempt from selection for Lee Carsley’s England Under-21 squad in May to consider his options.
He becomes the latest player to change allegiance having represented England after the Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha and Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala, who switched to Ivory Coast and Germany respectively.
Ghana have also convinced Iñaki Williams, the Athletic Bilbao forward who had represented Spain, to switch allegiance but The Times understands there is less optimism about Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Ghana have made a strong representation to Hudson-Odoi, the Chelsea forward, about switching allegiance before the World Cup but communication has since broken down and expectation at the Ghanaian FA is low.
Kurt Okraku, president of the Ghana FA, confirmed Lamptey’s switch of allegiance by posting a photograph of himself on social media with the Brighton right back’s father, Ahmed, writing: “Thanks for the trust and your determination to see Ghana succeed.”
Carsley had called Lamptey every day in the immediate aftermath of the London-born defender making his request to be exempt from selection after Ghana’s approach in May.
“We’ve made it clear how important we see him to us,” Carsley said at the time. “I know the seniors have as well. It’s not something that we’ve given up on. Tariq is fully aware of how important we see him.”
Lamptey has two caps for England Under-21 but faces stiff competition at right-back, with Gareth Southgate’s squad including Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James, James Justin, Kyle Walker, and Kieran Trippier. England also have Kyle Walker-Peters, Tino Livramento, Djed Spence, Ben Johnson and Max Aarons as options at right-back.
“We do have some really good right-backs but that doesn’t mean we should become blasé about our players,” Carsley said. “We see Tariq as an important player for not potentially only the senior team but the under-21s as well.”
Players with dual nationality can switch allegiance as long as they have played three senior matches or fewer, and those appearances came before the age of 21.
Those three games cannot, however, include a senior World Cup or confederation-level finals tournament.
