Brighton right-back Tariq Lamptey has asked to be left out of England’s squad for their upcoming European Under-21 Championship qualifying games as he is considering representing African side Ghana. The 21-year-old London-born defender was contacted by Ghana in 2020 but made his England Under-21 debut later that year. England Under-21 head coach Lee Carsley says Lamptey has again been approached and is “considering” the offer.
Carsley said: “He’s asked to be left out of the squad for a bit of headspace.” “He’s not switched, it’s not cemented or anything like that but he’s had an approach, we respect that. “We’ve made it clear how important we see him to us. I know the senior team has as well. “Tariq is fully aware of how important we see him – I have rung him every day! “I probably shouldn’t have, I probably pushed him. You can only make it clear so many times. He knows where we stand with him. We respect he’s got a decision to make.”
England has a lot of depth in the right-back position, with five players who play there – Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James, James Justin, Kieran Trippier, and Kyle Walker – named in Gareth Southgate’s squad for their Nations League games. Lamptey, who has two Under-21 caps, qualifies for Ghana through his parents and has also played for England Under-18s and Under-19s.
The former Chelsea full-back started 16 times for Brighton in the Premier League in the 2021-22 season and made a further 14 appearances as a substitute. England sits second in Group G of European Under-21 Championship qualifying, three points behind the Czech Republic with a game in hand. They will travel to play the group leaders on 3 June then have a home fixture with Albania three days later before facing Kosovo and Slovenia on 10 and 13 June respectively.