Hargreaves should have been the start, not the exception

Owen Hargreaves, born in Calgary to a half English, half Chinese mother, and a half Peruvian, one third Portuguese and one sixth German father (some nationalities may have been added for effect). He was the first player to represent the England team without having lived in the country. He was eligible to play for England, Wales or Canada. There was some consternation amongst the press at the time, like an intruder in the camp, but after the 2006 World Cup he was heralded as England's most important player. A tag that hasn't changed despite his lack of match time in the past 24 months.

Adopting players isn't new, Italy Spain and Portugal have been doing it for years. English cricket has taken on any number of South African's and legitimately so. Lennox Lewis was a Canadian Britain,having boxed for Canada at 2 Olympics winning gold in 1998 in Seoul. When he decided to turn professional he moved to the UK. Some boxing fans considered him to be Canadian at heart and British for convenience. Greg Rusedski another Canadian born, with a British mother and German father. It wasn't until 95 he decided to take up British citizenship.

This year at the World Cup Germany reportedly have 13 players who would have been eligible to play for other countries. Podolski and Klose are both Polish born, Jerome Boateng's brother Kevin Prince is playing for Ghana, Ozil was born to Turkish parents, Cacau is a naturalised Brazilian. France have any number of players eligible outside Les Bleus. Desailly was Ghanaian, Zidane is considered Algeria's favourite son. Eduardo is a Croatian national, he was born in Brazil and moved to Dinamo Zagreb when he was 16. The Irish propensity for finding players is well documented.

Maybe it's time England started looking for talent beyond the English born Premier League players. Time to dig a little deeper. Would it be wrong to ask Mikel Arteta whether he fancies a stroll as an England player? I'm not sure, and right now, he's the type of player we're missing, and his chances of breaking into that Spain midfield is about as likely as Iain Dowie winning a beauty pageant. I'm not saying England should become a footballing home for other nations cast-offs but players who offer something, and also players that have grown up playing in other leagues are going to add something to the team. The complete lack of English players plying their trade in other European leagues (Matt Derbyshire excluded) is woeful. Why not try yourselves in another league, you might learn something, possession retention for example. Would Lampard have benefited from playing in Serie A? I would imagine so, and it would suit his game rather well. Same goes for defenders, why not try out leagues in Spain, Italy, Germany, they're good leagues and learning new football cultures is only beneficial to England FC, but that's another arguement.

In terms of recruiting beyond the EPL, Owen Hargreaves should have been the beginning, not the full extent.