English FA trying to convince Everton and Ireland U21 striker Tom Cannon to switch allegiance

Patrick McCarry

Sound the bells and get the draw-bridge up!

Tom Cannon enjoyed a fine 2022/23 as he made his senior Everton debut, had a successful loan spell with Preston, scored on his Ireland U21 debut and was called into Stephen Kenny’s Ireland training squad.

The Aintree native has Irish parents and has been in this country’s underage set-up since U19 level. The 20-year-old won his first Everton caps under then first team manager Frank Lampard but was loaned out to Preston North End in the final week’s of his stint with the Toffees [before Sean Dyche replaced him].

Cannon hooked up with the likes of Troy Parrott, Alan Browne and Robbie Brady at P.N.E and had a fine spell at Deepdale – scoring eight times in 21 appearances. Everton had the second worst goals scored record in last season’s Premier League [34 scored in 38 games] so Dyche will be keen to have a good look at Cannon over the summer.

In March of this year, Cannon was called in for his U21 debut, under Jim Crawford, and scored in a friendly game against Iceland. Stephen Kenny called him up for the May training camp, in Bristol, but the forward withdrew with a virus. He was then not included in the smaller Ireland squad for upcoming Euro qualifiers against Greece and Gibraltar.

That squad withdrawal, allied with a report in The Irish Sun, will have some supporters fretting that Cannon could go the way of Declan Rice and Jack Grealish by switching international allegiances back to the country of his birth.

England manager Gareth Southgate (left) and Everton and Ireland U21 striker Tom Cannon. (Credit: Sportsfile)

Possible Tom Cannon and Evan Ferguson forward partnership

The Sun has reported that the English FA have contacted Tom Cannon and asked if he would consider switching back to England, with a view to a senior squad call-up.

Irish fans would have been dreaming of teaming the Everton striker up with Evan Ferguson, and even Parrott, for a new-look attack that would hopefully serve us fruitfully well for the next decade.

Stephen Kenny will have, no doubt, spoken with the 20-year-old too and convinced him that his international future lies with Ireland. The latest England squad saw Gareth Southgate include Harry Kane, Callum Wilson, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish as his attacking options. Ivan Toney and Tammy Abraham have also won international caps in the past nine months.

Cannon may be focused on nailing down a first team spot with Everton, over the coming months, but it is noteworthy that he was not able to take Kenny up on his first training squad call-up, and that he did not feature in the Dubliner’s full squad.

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