Manchester United third kit 2020-21 Aaron Wan-BissakaAdidas

Manchester United’s Wan-Bissaka hints at international switch on Instagram

Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka may have dropped a major clue as to where his international future lies after dropping the England flag on his Instagram bio and replacing it with a Democratic Republic of Congo flag.

The right-back is eligible for the two countries at senior level, having represented both at youth level.

Despite moving to United from Crystal Palace in 2019, he still appears to find himself way down the pecking order in the Three Lions ranks.

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Right-back is a particularly competitive spot for England, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier all appearing to be ahead of him currently in Gareth Southgate’s standings.

Born in Croydon, London, the full-back represented the DRC at U-20 level in 2015, and actually played against England’s U-17s—in a losing effort—in his sole appearance for the Leopards.

He subsequently represented England at both U-20 and U-21 level, and represented the Three Lions at the U-21 Euros in 2019, where he made one appearance for Aidy Boothroyd’s side.

In August 2019, the defender was called up to the senior side by Southgate, but didn’t appear in either Euro 2020 qualifiers against Kosovo or Bulgaria after missing out on the fixtures due to injury.

Even under the new rules on nationality switches ratified by Fifa last month, an appearance in either match would have prevented him from representing the Congo in the future, as he would have been 21 already at the time of his competitive outings for the Three Lions.

Should the 22-year-old opt to represent the Leopards, he would have to compete with the likes of Jordan Ikoko, Glody Ngonda and Djuma Shabani for the right-back berth, but could have a key role to play as the Central Africans look to reach the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and their first World Cup since 1974.

Despite not yet officially committing to the land of his origins, Wan-Bissaka has retained close ties with Congo during his career.

Earlier this year, for example, as part of the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, the defender paid for £10,000’s worth of personal protective equipment to be sent to medical workers in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa.

The defender’s father Ambrose was born in Congo, but left the country for Europe in 1997.

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