Declan Rice's former coach has slammed the idea of players switching countries.
In 2019 Rice infamously changed allegiance from Ireland - where he won caps at all age levels, including three for the senior side - to England, after holding talks with Gareth Southgate.
Former England international Stuart Pearce coached Rice at West Ham during his breakthrough 2017/18 season, and again for the past two years.
He was speaking on the subject of players changing countries and even went as far as to say that decisions at underage level should stick.
He said: “One thing I disagree with and I think a ruling should be made, as soon as you wear a national shirt for a country, you cannot change allegiances and go and play for someone else.
“That turns into club football for me.”
When asked if Rice should not have been allowed to represent England, he told TalkSport: “Yes. As in, it’s not a statement about Declan, they were the rules at the time.
“If you play youth football up to Under-21… when we played a tournament against Germany in a major finals, their left back turned up playing for the Canadians a month later or however long, from being a German Under-21 international, which you can do.
“For me, I just think it’s wrong. If you decide to put a national shirt on at any age group - this is my personal opinion - you should not be allowed to chop and change and go and play for another nation.”
Jack Grealish was another player who starred for Ireland - albeit up to Under-21 level - before going on to represent England.
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