5 Great Footballers Who Could Be Playing For England

The Hamburg and former Spurs midfielder was eligible to play for England due to his ancestry, as his father is from England. Although his career has diminished somewhat from his earlier signs of promise, he is still only 26 and could still yet improve to reach his full potential.

The German began his career in the youth system of Borussia Mönchengladbach, before being released in 2004. He joined the youth setup at second division Alemannia Aachen, where the midfielder got his first taste of senior football. He impressed enough to earn a move to German heavyweights FC Schalke 04, receiving his first senior international caps for Germany in the process.

His move to Tottenham didn't quite work out and he was subsequently loaned out to Hamburg for a season, eventually earning a permanent transfer to the club.

Holtby may not have made many headlines yet, but considering the quality of his football education and the lack of reliable midfield depth in the current England set up, it may have been worth a punt to at least try and get him involved in the England set up.