Chelsea forward Callum Hudson-Odoi has urged Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala to commit himself to England.
Musiala, 17, was born in Stuttgart but moved to England aged seven and was on the books at Southampton and Chelsea before returning to Germany last year.
He played for Germany’s Under-16s in 2018 but made his England Under-21 debut last Friday.
“I said to him, ‘I can’t choose for you but it would be nice if you stayed with England’,” said Hudson-Odoi.
Musiala is also eligible for Nigeria, his father’s homeland, and cannot change national team once he has played a senior competitive international.
He made his Bundesliga debut in June and has played nine times for Bayern, becoming their youngest goalscorer during the Bundesliga win over Schalke in September.
Musiala has previously played for England’s U15s, U16s and U17s and was called up for the U21s for the first time this month, with he and Hudson-Odoi scoring in Tuesday’s 5-0 win over Albania.
“Hopefully he gets to the seniors as quickly as possible,” added Hudson-Odoi, who like Musiala was a student at Whitgift school in South Croydon.
“He knows a lot of the boys already and has been really welcomed into the team.
“I have known him from when he was at Chelsea. He is a great player and I’ve watched him for a while. He went to the same school as me as well.
“I wanted to welcome him to the under-21s as soon as possible. He is a good guy, very shy, and before the game I said ‘play your own game and get a goal for yourself’, which he did.
“I have always said to him ‘keep doing your thing day in, day out, and you will get to the seniors sooner rather than later’.”
Fellow England U21 internationals Ebere Eze, Jonathan Panzo and Marc Guehi can also represent another country.
New York-born Valencia winger Yunus Musah, 17, played for various England youth teams but made his senior USA debut in last Thursday’s friendly with Wales.
He is eligible to play for the US, England and Ghana until he has made three competitive appearances for either of the countries before the age of 21.
England U21 coach Aidy Boothroyd said: “We have known about it for a little while and I did speak to Yunus’ father. I know a few coaches in the senior staff spoke to the family as well.
“We put our hat into the ring and we are keeping a close eye on things. I am hopeful we will see him in the Under-21s at some point. I don’t know [if he has made his decision]. I hope he hasn’t because I think if he came here and saw what we are all about that he would really enjoy it.”
