West Ham's Aaron Wan-Bissaka earns first DR Congo call-up after international switch

The full-back decided to represent DR Congo.

After years of being ignored by England, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, a defender for West Ham, decided to accept his first call-up to appear for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Wan-Bissaka, 27, made some appearances for England but only represented them at the junior level.

During Gareth Southgate’s leadership, the Hammers right-back was regularly predicted to make his Three Lions debut. Following his £50 million transfer to Manchester United in 2019, Wan-Bissaka received praise for being the Premier League’s top full-back in terms of outright defence.

Gareth Southgate: Aaron is a very good defender

However, with Kyle Walker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier, and Reece James all vying for a spot at right-back, Southgate was fortunate to have an abundance of choices. According to the former England manager, “it’s an area of the pitch where we are blessed,” in November 2020.

He had also added: “Aaron is a very good defender, one against one he’s probably as good as I have seen, but I have to look at the balance of the team and currently there are players ahead of him.”

There were constant rumours that Wan-Bissaka, who was born in Croydon to Congolese parents, would choose to play for DR Congo. However, the former Crystal Palace player indicated in 2019 that he has no interest in playing for the African country.

Wan-Bissaka’s stance has evolved after six years. On Wednesday, West Ham declared that the 27-year-old has accepted his first call-up, having recently gained the ability to play for DR Congo.

Wan-Bissaka has now joined Sebastien Desabre’s team in preparation for two World Cup qualifying matches. DR Congo will host Senegal in Kinshasa, the country’s capital, on Tuesday after visiting South Sudan on Friday.

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