John Carver tried to recruit these three Newcastle United players in 2023 and now one man standing | OneFootball

Interesting to look back at these three Newcastle United players that John Carver tried to recruit back in 2023.

The last 24 hours or so having put the spotlight on this issue once again.

John Carver was of course involved at St James’ Park for many years and during that time, Steve Clarke came to Newcastle United as assistant to Ruud Gullit, then stayed on for a time under Sir Bobby Robson.

Moving forward a couple of decades, Steve Clarke recruited his former NUFC colleague as part of his Scotland coaching set-up.

Back in Autumn 2023, Scotland successfully qualified for the 2024 European Championships.

John Carver then went public and admitted (see below) that Scotland were targeting a trio of Newcastle United stars. Carver naming the three Newcastle United players they would love to see commit to Scotland.

The background of those three Newcastle United players named by John Carver back in October 2023, in terms of their eligibility for Scotland:

Elliot Anderson 

Born in England, has Scottish grandparent(s).

Born in England, has Scottish grandparent(s).

Tino Livramento

Born in England, mother is Scottish, father’s side of family from Portugal.

Moving forward two years and Autumn 2025 has now seen Scotland qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals.

Time has of course moved on for Elliot Anderson and Tino Livramento, two massive players now for England, though sadly only one of them still with Newcastle United.

Imagine if they had both committed to Scotland instead of England? Add in both Tino and Elliot Anderson to that Scotland team and what an injection of added quality.

Last man standing

The last man standing of these three Newcastle United players, is of course Harvey Barnes, in terms of his international future, if indeed there is one.

A quality winger but with England already having so many others, who are clearly ahead of him as things stand, will Harvey now consider his options?

Barnes turns 28 in December and surely if he has any intention at all of showing interest in making himself available to Scotland, it has to be at this point, with a World Cup looming now.

As well as playing in the younger age categories, Harvey Barnes has one senior full cap for England, but that was in a friendly against Wales, not a competitive match, so he is still eligible for Scotland if he chooses to make himself available to Steve Clarke.

Harvey Barnes has now had the question posed by Sky Sports now that Scotland have qualified for the 2026 World Cup finals, after that bizarre and emotional 4-2 victory over 10 man Denmark:

“It isn’t something I have really spoken about, or put thought into recently.

“There has always been talk about it and a while ago there was bits and bobs about it but recently it’s not cropped up.

“It was great to see them win and get through last night, it was a crazy game, and I’m sure everyone in Scotland enjoyed themselves.

“Is it closed off? No, of course it’s not.

John Carver talking about these three Newcastle United players and the possibility of getting them to opt for Scotland – 11 October 2023:

“We have to respect and give him (Elliot Anderson) the time to make his decision. He’s a young lad, he’s developing as a player and developing in the right direction. He needs to be given a little bit of time with his family.

“We’ve not put him under any pressure whatsoever. I think that’s the best way to deal with it and we’ll see how it progresses in the future. We can talk about Elliot, but it’s about the people who are here and we put our energy into that.

“I normally keep my distance anyway, but Newcastle’s my football club and I was at the Champions League game the other night. When he came on he was quite effective in the game, but it’s not for me to get involved. I’ve not spoken to anyone at the football club, I’ve not spoken to him or his family, it’s about giving him time.

“The door’s open. We never put him under pressure before we called him into the squad, they came to us. So we’ll have to wait and see. We respect the fact he’s so young. It’s a big decision and we can’t get involved in that. We let them make the decision.

Carver added: “We’re always looking to improve it. We’re always searching, don’t worry about that. Whenever I go to a game I speak to people in the director’s box, even fans sometimes, to try and find out if there’s anyone out there.

“You have to search. Sometimes people come forward with information, but the information’s not true. But you can never stop searching because you always hope to find a hidden gem.

“Newcastle have a few. As well as Elliot there is Harvey Barnes and Tino Livramento. They’re out there and if they’re good enough I’m sure Steve will try to get them in the squad. But it has to be a two-way thing, for sure.