A decision had been made on Harvey Barnes’ international future amid talk of the Newcastle United winger being called up for Scotland.
Harvey Barnes has enjoyed his best scoring season for Newcastle United to date with 12 goals in 39 appearances across all competitions.
The winger is Newcastle’s top scorer in all competitions having scored five goals each in the Premier League and Champions League as well as two in the FA Cup.
His scoring form and lack of international recognition for England raised the possibility of a switch of international allegiance to Scotland ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Harvey Barnes considered for Scotland call-up
Scotland have qualified for their first World Cup since 1998, and manager Steve Clarke has spoken of the possibility of a call-up for Barnes.
Barnes has been capped once by England in a friendly match back in 2020, but is eligible to represent Scotland through his maternal grandparents.
“It’s not something I’ve really spoken about or put thought into recently,” Barnes said after Scotland secured World Cup qualification back in November.
“There’s always been talk about it and a while ago there was bits and bobs about it. But recently it’s not cropped up.
“It was great to see them win and get through [to the World Cup], it was a crazy game, and I’m sure everyone in Scotland enjoyed themselves.”
But back then, Barnes still left the door open for a potential switch to Scotland ahead of the World Cup in North America.
“Is it closed off? No, of course it’s not,” he added. “I’ve obviously played for England and I know the eligibility side of it is still there so it’s hard to say either way but there’s been no real chats or progression in that sense.”
But conversations have since taken place in which Barnes has reiterated his focus on Newcastle and the possibility of a return to the England set-up.
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Scotland boss confirms Harvey Barnes decision
Former Newcastle coach and current Scotland manager Clarke has now ruled out the prospect of a call-up for Barnes, confirming the winger had turned down the opportunity.
"It's the perennial question, everybody keeps asking me about it," Clarke told BBC Radio 5 Live. "This time I can say for sure, Harvey's going to concentrate on trying to play for England, he's not going to come to Scotland.
"You can put that one out there. Nobody needs to ask me or Harvey about it any more.
"Am I disappointed? No, listen, Harvey can make up his own mind. We move on."
Scotland snubbed again
It’s the second Scotland snub from a Newcastle player in recent seasons with Barnes following on from Elliot Anderson, who has since gone on to join Nottingham Forest and represent England.
Although Anderson had gone a step further than Barnes and represented Scotland at youth level. The midfielder was even called-up to a Scotland senior squad and trained but made a late U-turn and dropped out of the squad in order to keep his prospects of playing for England open.
Two years later, Anderson has been capped six times by England and helped the Under-21s team win the European Championships last summer.
Anderson said: “I went away with the Scotland team and I left camp after a few days and decided that I needed more time to make my decision.
“I didn't want to dive into anything. I'm really thankful I've done that now.
“I'm definitely English, that's where I see myself, but I hadn't really been called up to England throughout the age groups when I was younger. So I thought I'd take the opportunity to play and when I got that belief that I was good enough to play for England, it hit me and I focused on England.”
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