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Playing for England or Ireland? Ireland coach: I talked to Drapp, he didn t refuse us

10:07pm, 31 May 2025【Football】

The Mirror reported on May 31 that fans are worried that Drapp will choose England over Ireland, and the striker appears to be about to join Chelsea for a transfer fee of 35 million euros.

This season, he scored 12 goals for Ipswich in the Premier League. Drapp's father Rory has played 11 times for the Irish national team and played for the Irish U21 team. However, his son will travel to Slovakia next month to represent England's U21 team in the European Championships, but he is still eligible to play for Ireland. Irish head coach Haymir Halgrimsson has met with the striker and has not given up on his chance to play for Ireland in the future. Although Drapp played for England at all ages, he did not play for the adult team, unlike Gallish and Rice, who represented Ireland at different ages and later moved to England.

When asked if he was talking to the 22-year-old, the Irish head coach said: "We did talk to him and told him that we really hope he will join our camp. But at the moment his focus is on the England U21 team." Is Drapp interested in playing for Ireland? Halgrimson replied: "He did not refuse."

However, Irish fans thought the possibility was slim. One netizen wrote: "He will not play for us, now he is just trying to win him dutifully, and it is worth a try." Another commented: "I believe Drapp met the Irish coach out of the respect his father had played for Ireland, but he would never choose to play for Ireland as long as he has the chance to play for the English adult team." Another netizen quoted legend Johnny Giles as saying: "Any young man born and raised in England is eager to play for England." "I think things are a foregone conclusion. To be fair, Drapp did not use the Irish youth team to improve himself. He has always maintained a consistent position and wish him good luck in the future." Another comment wrote.