Jack Grealish has decided to declare for England, his club Aston Villa have announced. It is unclear yet whether he might be included in Roy Hodgson’s squad for the forthcoming European Championship qualifiers or whether he would actually be eligible to play in either game due to the time it takes to switch allegiance under Fifa rules but he does appear to have finally resolved that that is the country he hopes to represent.

Grealish, now 20, has been mulling over the decision for quite some time. In his mid-teens he actually participated in an England squad but was sent home early due to illness after which he played for Ireland at under17, 18 and 21 levels. During this period he is reported to have rejected approaches from various England coaches.

Amid growing excitement in some quarters over the scale of his talent, however, and with a competitive cap at senior level two years ago set to tie him to one country or the other, he announced a little over a year ago that he was taking some time out to consider his options.

During that time he strongly hinted on at least one occasion that he would again represent Ireland this autumn but as time passed and, particularly after Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill made it clear to him in May that he would go straight into the senior international squad if he simply agreed to being selected for it, it became increasingly obvious that he was leaning the other way.

The midfielder, who has still only played around 20 games for Villa, qualifies for Ireland through grandparents on both sides of his family and having, amongst other things, played Gaelic games in his local area as he was growing up in Birmingham, clearly identifies with the country to some extent.

But he is, like his two parents, English born and with potentially greater rewards for an England international possibly also a factor, he has now decided that that is where his future lies.