Manuel Almunia for England?

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is pushing for his Spanish goalkeeper Manuel Almunia to get a call up to the England squad. You read that right. Though Almunia is Spanish, he’s never been capped by his country and looks very unlikely to ever get a game. Not with the likes of Iker Casillas and Santiago Cañizares blocking the way. But after living in London since 2004, Almunia will be eligible for UK citizenship in 2008, which would then allow him to play for England (or Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.)

Almunia seems open to the possibility, fi not overenthusiastic “At the moment, I don’t have many options to play for Spain,” he said “Spain have never, never called me. And, if other people want me, I have to study my situation. I will not close [the door] to anything.”

Seems odd, but this is increasingly common in world football. Barcelona’s Deco may seem like a natural fit in Portugal’s national team, but the Brazilian only qualified to play in 2002, after spending six years at FC Porto. The big difference is that Deco is a genius and Almunia is just a half-decent goalkeeper.

The rush to repatriate Almunia seems to come from two places. First, England’s desperation with the goalkeeping situation. Paul Robinson, David James and Scott Carson have all made high profile errors but Almunia hasn’t really done anything to suggest he’s much better than those three. Second, I can’t help thinking Wenger maybe feels a little guilty for failing to field any English players on a regular basis, so maybe this is his way of trying to give something back to England.

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