Gareth Southgate has told Folarin Balogun to carefully think about about changing his international allegiance from England to the United States.
Balogun, 21, was born in New York and has represented the US at U18 level, but he currently plays for England's U21s. The Arsenal forward has scored seven goals in 13 caps for Lee Carsley's side and is pushing for a senior call-up due to his form in France.
Balogun, who is currently on loan at Reims, has scored 18 club goals this season to establish himself as one of Europe's most talented young strikers. US interim manager Anthony Hudson has been in touch with Balogun about representing the country of his birth, while his withdrawal from the England U21 squad due to injury has raised speculation.
Southgate has not spoken to Balogun about joining his squad but has advised the player to carefully consider his decision amid "aggressive" recruitment from other nations. The Three Lions boss believes Balogun may live to regret ditching England for the US.
Southgate told reporters on Saturday, "I haven't [spoken to Balogun] yet because to this point, he has been with the U21s and very happy. Clearly other nations have been quite aggressive in their recruitment and what they are offering.
"That, in my experience of history, has sometimes been really successful for the players and sometimes hasn’t worked out. I’ve seen countries cap players at 16 or 17 and they’ve disappeared. In the end, as a player, I think you back yourself but you have got to ultimately make the decision.
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"We would like him to give it some time and if he is progressing the way he is and continues that progression there will be opportunities for him but I cannot offer him that this week. I think if we did, I don’t think that would be fair on Ivan Toney who has scored the goals he has in the Premier League.
"Flo we like. He has obviously not had an opportunity in the Premier League, yet, so we have to weigh up those goals to Ivan, for example, or Ollie Watkins, or Eddie Nketiah who has done really well with the opportunity he has had at Arsenal."
In recent years, the likes of Tariq Lamptey (Ghana), Jamal Musiala (Germany) and Wilfried Zaha (Ivory Coast) have ditched England for other countries, while Jack Grealish and Declan Rice turned their backs on the Republic of Ireland to join Southgate's squad.
Balogun is eager to make the step up to senior international football and the US are willing to facilitate that. "We’ve had dialogue, we’ve spoken, he’s out here having a bit of a break and some training and we’ve had some discussions," said Hudson.
"Now it’s about him just enjoying the rest of his trip... I think it’s been good because it’s been an opportunity for us just to share about our program and who we are and what we do. I hope we get the chance to speak to him again. So it’s been good, to me, and then I know a few of the guys have spoken to him, as well."
Other England youth internationals are also being courted by other nations, as Ghana are keen to snap up Eddie Nketiah and Callum Hudson-Odoi. The latter has three senior caps for England but is eligible to switch his international allegiance.
