Mikel Arteta to play for England?
Over the course of the last couple of years, England's national team has been on a downward slope. The main reason for this is the fact that the heart of the team, which is the midfield just cannot seem to operate together.
The two main players who have been in contention for playing in the central midfield position have been, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard. However both these players have managed to hit a bad run of form and considering they are aging fast, they are giving the manager a lot to think about.
Fabio Capello is well aware of the fact that there are very few quality midfielders left in England, which is why the manager is looking to turn to Spanish born, Mikel Arteta to consider joining the English national team.
The talismanic midfielder was born and raised in the Basque region of Spain, but he is still eligible of getting a British passport because of the fact that the player has been working and living in England for over five years now.
Both, English boss Fabio Capello and the English FA, have spoke to the 28-year-old, however they haven't as yet given a clear statement regarding whether or not they want the player to be a part of England's squad in the days to come.
As Capello tries to rebuild a team, the technique and ability of Arteta could prove to be greatly helpful to the team.
After a poor World Cup performance in South Africa, the manager was forced to make extreme decisions regarding the overhauling of the team and it doesn't get any more extreme than this.
The only factor that could possibly prevent the player from becoming a part of the England team for the future is his age. But considering he is only 28, Arteta has a good five years left in him, which means if the FA act's now, they could use the players services for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Even though various teams have used this rule in the past, it is a regulation that would go against the morals according to some football fundamentalists. The argument that they could present is that if that's the case, then why don't players like Lionel Messi play for the Spanish team, considering he has spent most of his life in the country playing for Barcelona.
More is to come on this story in the days to come, however the player's fate would be decided sooner rather than later, considering the Euro 2012 qualifiers are just around the corner.
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