We published a deep dive article explaining why Seb Pocognoli is the most important Scotland boss in history. In that article we pointed out the potential benefits of his appointment in attracting elite, multi-eligible players to play for Scotland. Below we thus profile some of the most highly rated multi-eligible players Pocognoli will be targeting, both immediately, for Euro 2028 & beyond.
Why would multi-eligible players currently find committing to Scotland especially appealing?
1. Euro 2028
Scotland as one of the host nations has a favoured qualification path. If Scotland do indeed qualify, they enjoy home advantage of games played at Hampden. This is the best ever chance of Scotland to get out of the group stage, should they qualify. Further, if players listed below commit to Scotland, the Scots at Euro 2028 could potentially not just get out of the group; they could be competitive deep into the tournament.
2. The Craig Mulholland revolution
Eyebrow-raisingly, the SFA gave Steve Clarke a 4 year contract extension prior to the World Cup. Scotland could thus have been thrashed in all 3 group games with Clarke remaining manager for the subsequent 4 years. Mulholland has since painted himself as new in the door when that decision was made & having little involvement in that decision.
Now though that Clarke has resigned, Mulholland has brought his influence to bear very considerably with Pocognoli’s encouraging appointment. With that appointment, there seems a promise of a new, exciting brand of football, in contrast to the safety first football of now ex-boss, Steve Clarke.
There is much more on what Mulholland intends to effect on Scottish football detailed in this article.
Goalkeepers
Chris Brady
| Age | 22 |
| Club | Chicago Fire |
| SMNT youth caps | 0 |
| Other eligibility | USA |
The first multi-eligible player we spotlight is Illinois born & raised Chris Brady. Brady impressively already has over 100 MLS appearances with Chicago Fire. He has been in numerous USA senior squads in the last year, & was 3rd choice USA GK at World Cup 2026. However he did not play any World Cup minutes. Further, his only full cap was in a friendly versus Senegal meaning he remains eligible for Scotland.
Media in January 2025 reported Brady as expressing interest in playing for Scotland. However, we have debunked that reporting as sensationalist & inaccurate. fitba.scot is so far unable to ascertain:
- Via which relative (e.g., parent or grandparent), qualifies Brady for Scotland
- From where in Scotland that ancestor hails
Fitba.scot direct-messaged Brady via one of his social media accounts on 25 July 2026, to ask those questions. No response from Brady has yet been received.
If Brady were to switch, he’d not just realistically fancy his chances of squad selection for the Autumn Nations League fixtures. He could justifiably fancy his chances of starting when that Scots Nations League campaign starts in Slovenia.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – low
Brady seems too far invested in the USMNT setup and has never given any apparent interest in playing for Scotland
Ben Vickery
Vickery was born & lived South of the border. He later moved to the Scottish Borders schooling at Earlston & playing youth football for Melrose. Vickery then spent 6 years in the Hibernian youth setup, for whom he played U18s when he was 15. It was then that he played his sole Scotland youth international game to date.
He transferred in September 2025 to Manchester City. Vickery at this point switched international allegiance to England. Time will tell how that works out; there’s plenty of time for him to switch back to Scotland.
Vickery visited his ex-youth team in Melrose in June 2026, providing GK coaching.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – difficult to tell at this stage
Vickery is 17 & has a larger player pool to compete against in England. There’s lots of time before he is forced to commit to England, should he ever be asked to do so.
Full backs
Cam Williams
Williams played 3 games for England U15s before switching to Scotland. Reports describe him as an “ultra-aggressive, attacking” LB. Hence, unsurprisingly, he has also played on the left side of the attack. He has scored 3 goals in the Scotland youth setup so far & generally has shown up well playing for Scotland youth teams. So much so that there is much hope invested in him as a real prospect for Scotland, & eventually taking the position in the Scotland team held by his ex-Liverpool club mate, Andy Robertson.
Williams has suffered serious injuries over the last year. However, he made his first appearance since February when he played 89 mins for Liverpool U18s on August 15th.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – very possible if he can maintain fitness
There’s no place for complacency until the legality is finalised. Williams though seems committed to Scotland & with the reasons listed at the beginning of this article, Williams seems well placed to benefit.
Centre backs
Dan Armer
| Age | 18 |
| Club | Manchester United |
| Scotland youth caps | 7 |
| Other eligibility | England |
Armer, born in England, qualifies for Scotland via his mum. A left footed CB, he was at Preston North End before joining the Man Utd youth setup. He played 136 mins in 4 games for the Man Utd first team squad pre-season this year. Observers have compared his mannerisms to Harry Maguire. Maguire for his part described Armer’s pre-season performances as “brilliant” & “magnificent”.
Personality-wise, Armer has a reputation for being very polite. He is also known for picking the brains of his coaches, and seeking additional video analysis in his pursuit of self-improvement.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – very possible
At the moment the outlook seems quietly encouraging for this very grounded young man. Like with Williams though, until it’s legally done, no one can be certain.
Dara Jikiemi
| Age | 16 |
| Club | Liverpool |
| Scotland youth caps | 4 |
| Other eligibility | Nigeria |
Jikiemi hails from the Giffnock area of Glasgow. He has Nigeria eligibility via his parents. Reports describe right footed Jikiemi as an “aggressive, ball-playing centre-back,” who can also step into MF. He has captained Scotland at U15 & U16, & was on the books at Celtic before Liverpool signed him in July.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – very likely
Jikiemi seems firmly invested in the Scotland youth setup. If nothing else, the logistics make a Europe based player playing for a team in sub-Saharan Africa less attractive. Jikiemi as a Scotland prospect looks encouraging.
Ben Nelson
| Age | 22 |
| Club | Leicester City |
| Scotland youth caps | Disputed |
| Other eligibility | England |
Nelson is eligible for Scotland via the ancestry rule. Some sources cite the SFA website as stating Nelson played once for Scotland youths. However, that page on the SFA website is no a dead link. Transfermarkt credit Nelson as having no Scotland caps at any level, but they do indicate he has been in Scotland squads.
6′ 5″, 22 year old Nelson played 27 games for Leicester last season in which they were unable to preserve their 2nd tier status. Media reported he had transfer interest in the summer from Torino, Chelsea, Man Utd & West Ham. However, pre-season he damaged his ACL and is expected to miss the majority of the season. Get well soon Ben.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – possible
Ironically if Nelson was fit & declared for Scotland, he could very well have featured for Seb Pocognoli in the forthcoming international break. However, he has most recently played for England & there seems no indication online that he is considering switching. There are never guarantees though until it’s legally settled. As per others in this list, he faces much more competition for places in the England team. His injury is bad news on any level. That includes that if he had been fit, could Mulholland’s revolution have enticed Nelson to play for Scotland in September?
Midfield
Jack Fletcher
| Age | 19 |
| Club | Manchester United |
| Scotland youth caps | 3 |
| Other eligibility | England |
Darren Fletcher’s son has 30 England youth caps, punctuated by 3 Scotland U16 caps. He plays attacking midfield although in pre-season, Manchester United have tried playing him at RW. Fletcher subbed on in 3 games in December for Man Utd first team experience, but hasn’t featured competitively since then at that level. Pundits describe his pre-season with the first team as a reminder of the gulf he is yet to close to be genuinely first team ready. A loan would likely be very beneficial for him.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – possible
He is another with much water to flow under the bridge before he is tied only to one country. With his twin brother stating he has made a final decision to commit to Scotland, could that subsequently influence Jack?
Tyler Fletcher
| Age | 19 |
| Club | Manchester United |
| Scotland youth caps | 22 |
| Other eligibility | England |
Tyler started off with 4 England U16 caps. Since then he has represented only Scotland. A couple of Man Utd first team sub appearances in the 2nd half of last season, helped him earn a call up to train with the World Cup squad. Billy Gilmour subsequently injured & withdrew from the squad. Fletcher impressed so much in training that Steve Clarke called him up as Gilmour’s replacement, for the trip to USA.
Ideally at the World Cup, even one moment of World Cup match time would have been enough to tie him to Scotland internationally. However, with the Scots fighting to protect a 1-0 lead versus Haiti, and chasing the game against both Morocco & Brazil, Steve Clarke didn’t send Fletcher on to the pitch. Hence he is still theoretically eligible for Scotland & England.
Given his age, currently he would need to play in 4 senior games of which at least one must be competitive (i.e., non-friendly), to tie him to Scotland.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – very likely
Tyler declared in the latter part of last season that he has made a final decision & is committed to Scotland. That though isn’t guaranteed until he fulfils the FIFA international eligibility requirements.
Kyle Glasgow
| Age | 16 |
| Club | Alloa (on loan from Rangers) |
| Scotland youth caps | 9 |
| Other eligibility | Portugal |
Many rate Kyle Glasgow among the very brightest talents in the Rangers academy along with Rydnn McGuire & Ashton Scally. His 9 Scotland caps were worryingly punctuated with 4 Portugal youth caps in December & January; a reminder of the competitive nature of the multi-national eligibility player market.
He is currently impressing on a cooperation loan at Alloa. So much so that it must be wondered; will Rangers recall him in January to instead loan him to a higher division? In 2019/20 they recalled Robby McCrorie from Queen of the South to loan instead to Livingston a division above. Hence, why wouldn’t they also consider something similar for Kyle Glasgow?
Intriguingly despite being on loan at Alloa, he was on the Rangers bench for their Europa League qualification home leg versus Jagiellonia.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – likely
While it is good that he has most recently represented Scotland, the Portugal interest in him shouldn’t be dismissed.
Archie Gray
| Age | 20 |
| Club | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Scotland youth caps | 0 |
| Other eligibility | England |
Archie Gray is profiled in detail in this article on the Gray football dynasty. In the absence of injured teammates for Tottenham’s EPL season opener at Brentford, Roberto De Zerbi gave 20 year old Gray the captaincy. He played that game at RB & has played CB as well as MF.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – low
He has consistently stated his intention of playing for England and given his progress, he seems on track to attain that goal. A possible factor that could swing him to Scotland would be if his brother Harry (see below), were to switch to make that switch. In Archie’s case though, that seems unlikely.
Hayden Hackney
| Age | 24 |
| Club | Everton |
| Scotland youth caps | 2 |
| Other eligibility | England |
While Hackney was born in England, his mum is from Edinburgh. He played a couple of U15 games for England before disappearing from international football. He then debuted for Scotland U21s in November 2022. And then it went wrong.
By March 2023, he was already looking like prospectively the best player in the Middlesbrough first team. Instead of being called up to play by Steve Clarke for the SMNT that month in the Euro qualifiers against Cyprus & Spain, he played for the U21s again. He similarly was unselected for the first team games in June that Summer against Norway & Georgia. Given he was 20 at the time of all 4 of those SMNT games, he would have had to have played in all 4 of them to be tied to Scotland. However, it’s opportunity missed.
As he continued to shine for Boro, the England U21s poached him in September that year. He has represented only England since that allegiance switch. Further, his Everton contract stipulates an add-on payment, should Hackney ever play for England.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – unsure
Hayden Hackney is a superb player. His current allegiance lies with England & if they pick him, he’ll play for them. He hasn’t yet though stood out as on a trajectory to play for England in the way Archie Gray has. Much depends now on the level to which Hackney impresses now that he has transferred to England’s top division.
Jack McGrath
| Age | 17 |
| Club | Aston Villa |
| Scotland youth caps | 5 |
| Other eligibility | England |
McGrath is eligible for Scotland by ancestry & was reported last season as the most exciting prospect emerging in the Villa youth setup. He has 5 Scotland caps so far punctuated by 2 for England. Aged 17, he plays up an age group for Scotland in the U19s.
He glides past defenders like his namesake, Jack Grealish, & is also a budding dead ball expert. He has a goals to game ratio from midfield that many strikers envy. fitba.scot boldly advocated that in a 26 man Scotland World Cup squad, Scotland should have allocated a place to one of the multi-eligible youth players deemed to have the highest ceiling. Specifically, we advocated McGrath.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – unsure
Like others in this list it would be tremendous if McGrath were to play in enough games to be eligible only for Scotland. However, anyone who feels that the England setup wouldn’t welcome him back with open arms is kidding themselves. He will be among their top targets to try to poach. We have to wait & see how this plays out.
Keir McMeekin
| Age | 16 |
| Club | Manchester City |
| Scotland youth caps | 6 |
| Other eligibility | England / Northern Ireland |
McMeekin is from Pattiesmuir in Fife. Like McGrath he has played an age group up for Scotland, namely at U17 level when he was 15. Also like McGrath he is an attacking midfielder. Manchester City beat off competition from a bunch of other EPL clubs to sign McMeekin from the youth setup from Hearts. At Hearts he was a star player in the team that won the Youth Cup last season.
Numerous outlets in February reported that England have attempted to poach him. He noticeably didn’t feature in the subsequent Scotland U17s games in March. The Belfast Telegraph report he is also eligible for Northern Ireland.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – unsure
At present we are unable to identify where he feels his allegiance lies, nor are we able to ascertain currently which of his parents & grandparents are Scots, Irish & English. His father’s name is Scott, although how much relevance that has if any, speculate for yourself.
Tyrese Noubissie
| Age | 17 |
| Club | Strasbourg |
| Scotland youth caps | 0 |
| Other eligibility | Cameroon / England / France |
Noubissie’s dad, French footballer Patrick Noubissie, spent season 2007/08 on the books at Hibernian. Most of his appearances in Scotland though were in loans at Livi & Dundee. He left Hibs at the end of that season.
Tyrese was born in Livingston in May of the year after Patrick left Hibs. Outlets such as gazzetta.it state that Tyrese’s mum is Scots. Patrick for his part retired from playing aged 28 due to recurring injury, and has since trained as a physiotherapist at Coventry University.
This highlights reel shows why Tyrese is so highly rated. He was on the books at Leicester City before Manchester City paid the million pound release clause to sign him when he was 14. In August 2025, he transferred to Strasbourg in France. He subsequently debuted for Strasbourg’s first team in April as a 16-year-old, and made 4 sub appearances before the end of the Ligue 1 season. He played U15s for England before switching to play for France.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – unlikely
Noubissie is firmly embedded in the French international youth football setup. Given that he also already has ties in the English youth setup, it seems fanciful to imagine he will play for Scotland.
Wingers
Harvey Barnes
| Age | 28 |
| Club | Newcastle United |
| Scotland youth caps | 0 |
| Other eligibility | England |
The Harvey Barnes question seemed largely closed when facing injuries to the England squad, Tam Tuchel called up Barnes for the March 2026 international friendlies. Barnes subsequently collected his 2nd full England cap on 27 March, when he subbed on in the 2nd half versus Uruguay. Barnes holding out for a possible call up for the England World Cup squad, declined the previous overture to give Steve Clarke a phone call.
So even the prospect of playing at a World Cup was insufficient to entice the speedy winger to switch allegiance to the Scots. His pacey, direct, dangerous attacking play was just what Scotland were missing at the World Cup. However, that is in the past.
Barnes remains on 2 full England caps & with both of those games being friendlies, he remains eligible for Scotland. Will he now realise that he has likely already reached the summit of his England career? Even if he does, will it make any difference to his seeming non-desire to play for Scotland? If Barnes were to be for example, an English nationalist type of figure (and we aren’t claiming that he is & his political & philosophical opinions are for him to keep private), he’d be unlikely to want to play for Scotland. Further, he’d be unlikely in such a circumstance to be a positive impact on all important squad harmony.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – unlikely
Anything is possible while he still has dual eligibility. While the reasons listed at the start of this article make playing for Scotland much more appealing than in the Clarke era, don’t hold your breath on Barnes switching. We include Barnes here only for completeness rather than any expectation that he may play for Scotland.
Zion Pullan
| Age | 15 |
| Club | Celtic |
| Scotland youth caps | 5 |
| Other eligibility | Nigeria, Spain |
Pullan was born in Tudela in the Basque region of Spain to Nigerian parents, and subsequently raised in Scotland. He turned 15 in February. Last season Pullan amassed a jaw-dropping 93 Celtic goal involvements of 58 goals and 35 assists at U15 & U17 level. Reports state he typically plays on the left to cut in on to his favoured right foot & is also able to play CF. Among his highest profile contributions is a hat-trick against Rangers. He is known for explosive attacking play and unsurprisingly, prolific goal scoring. In late July he scored 6 mins into his Celtic U19 debut.
Given he was born in Spain’s Basque region, he is reported as interesting Athletic Bilbao. Pullan meets Athletic’s policy of only signing players born or raised in the Basque region.
He has 5 appearances to his name for Scotland U15s, scoring once (against Italy in May), in the 148 mins he played in those games. However, he later in May he played for Spain in a game against France. He has not played international football since.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – difficult to tell
That he has recently played for Spain is obviously bad news for Scotland fans. He clearly faces greater player competition if he is ultimately to play for Spain’s first team. Again, Scots fans have to wait & see if the increasingly attractive prospect of playing for Scotland has an effect.
Strikers
Caelan-Kole Cadamarteri
| Age | 16 |
| Club | Manchester City |
| Scotland youth caps | 12 |
| Other eligibility | England, Jamaica |
Cadamarteri was born in Cupar in the 18 months his dad, Danny Cadamarteri, spent at Dundee United.
Caelan Cadamarteri joined the Manchester City youth setup in the Summer of 2025 from Sheffield Wednesday. City paid £1m plus add-ons for him. Aged 15 at the time, in 23 games for the Owls U18s, Cadamarteri tallied 24 goals and 10 assists.
He was similarly in prolific form last season, notching 35 goals and 12 assists for the Man City U16 and U19 teams. Also, he scored 5 goals in 7 Scotland U17 games, & once in 2 games for the U19s. The Courier in March 2025 reported Danny stating of Caelan:
“Caelan has been over to Cyprus and enjoyed that – helping Scotland to win all three games – and has played in the Victory Shield, so let’s just say: he’s enjoying being Scottish.”
Caelan has 2 caps for England U16s from before he switched to Scotland. Worryingly though, Jamaica called him up to their full squad for the Unity Cup in June this year, although he didn’t play any match minutes. His 21-year-old brother, Bailey, has 8 full Jamaica caps.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – difficult to tell
It was looking quietly encouraging with regard to Cadamarteri. His Jamaica call up in the Summer though was sobering. Danny stated in social media in response to Caelan’s Jamaica call up:
“He’s not tied to anyone so it’s just good experiences for him till he’s old enough to make a committed decision.”
Liam Delap
| Age | 23 |
| Club | Nottingham Forest |
| Scotland youth caps | 0 |
| Other eligibility | England / Republic of Ireland |
Treat this one with caution. It remains to be seen if Delap genuinely is eligible for Scotland. He is a strong running, 2-footed goalscorer. Delap debuted yesterday for Forest after his £50m transfer from Chelsea.
He has 38 caps & 14 goals to his name in the England youth setup. His dad, Rory, collected 11 full Ireland caps around the turn of the century.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – very unlikely
Believe him playing for Scotland when you see it. Otherwise, this seems very unlikely given how many cards would need to land the right way first before he plays for Scotland.
Harry Gray
| Age | 17 |
| Club | Sheffield Wednesday (on loan from Leeds United) |
| Scotland youth caps | 0 |
| Other eligibility | England |
Like with his brother Archie mentioned above, Harry is part of the Gray football family dynasty. As per what Archie was pre-transfer to Tottenham, Harry is considered among the Leeds academy very brightest prospects. Harry spent the 2nd half of last season on loan at Rotherham in England’s 3rd tier. He is in that division on loan again this season, this time at Sheff Wed.
Harry’s dad, Andy, remarked in August 2024:
“Harry’s a mad Scotland fan and we went to Germany v Scotland at the Euros”
In November 2025, Harry caught media attention & sent speculation into overdrive that he was about to commit to Scotland. Specifically, he rejoined the Tartan Army at Hampden for the seismic, never to be forgotten, 4-2 win against Denmark. He documented his attendance by posting a photo on social media, that he took inside Hampden with the scoreboard in the background.
In February though, his great-uncle Eddie in an interview poured cold water on those hopes, saying of Harry:
“he’s very outspoken. When he was younger he used to say ‘I’m going to play for Scotland’ but I think if he’s good enough he’ll play for England.“
Eddie has made it clear more than once that while he respects Archie & Harry’s decisions, he would personally prefer to see them play for Scotland. Did Eddie make that comment because he believed it? Or could it have been to take pressure off Harry to allow him to quietly develop?
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – difficult to tell
While Eddie has poured water on the idea of Harry Gray playing for Scotland, all the indications are that Harry clearly has an emotional desire to play for the Scots. Could the incentives listed at the beginning of this article, inspire him to play for Scotland?
Lorenzo Sassetti
| Age | 15 |
| Club | Dundee United |
| Scotland youth caps | 6 |
| Other eligibility | Italy |
The last multi-eligible player we spotlight is Lorenzo Sassetti. Sassetti was born in Italy in February 2011 before moving to Scotland. Currently we are unable to ascertain the background story of when & the reasons for his move to Scotland.
He was in the Dundee United youth setup at least by October 2021, when he was 10. At age group level last season, he tallied 54 goals & 16 assists. He debuted aged 15 for their first team last month, as a late sub in the League Cup against Spartans.
He has 3 goals from his 6 Scotland U15 games. On the most recent of those (1st May 2026), he subbed on for goalscorer, Zion Pullan, with 35 mins still to play against Italy. The Italians were impressed & promptly poached him to instead play for them. There has to be a lesson in there somewhere.
On his Italian debut versus Serbia later that same month, he notched a goal & an assist. In a 2nd game versus the Serbs 2 days later, he scored again. Italian media have since labelled him a generational talent. Sassetti played his 3rd game for Italy 4 days ago, this time at U16 level. He scored in the 3-2 win versus England. Reports unsurprisingly have Inter, Juventus & Milan circling in anticipation of signing him once he reaches his 16th birthday in February next year.
Estimated likelihood of being only eligible for Scotland – not looking good
Given the decline in talent level from the Italian production line in recent years, it is deeply ironic they’ve poached for the moment at least, one of the very hottest Scotland prospects. Don’t expect to see him in the Scotland setup any time soon.
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