Tahith Chong to switch international allegiance from Holland to Curação | OneFootball

Upon the release of the preliminary squad lists for this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, a surprise inclusion of Tahith Chong breaks the news of a potential switch in international allegiance.

The Manchester United youngster has been named in the Curaçao preliminary squad list by Dutch manager Guus Hiddink.

Born in Willemstad, the capital of Curaçao, the Dutch u21 international looks set for a switch to his nation of birth.

Having been capped by the Netherlands throughout the age groups, Chong last represented Oranje at u21s level in 2019.

After a rather disappointing season with two loans, which were covered in detail in The Peoples Person loan watch series, Chong’s decreasing prospects of a senior Netherlands international career may be a reason behind any potential switch.

If Chong is to accept Curaçao’s call up, he will join the short list of Manchester United senior players to feature in CONCACAF’s Gold Cup, becoming just the fifth to do so.

Following in the footsteps of Dwight Yorke, Javier Hernandez, Tim Howard, and Jonathan Spector, the latter three of which have all seen glory lifting the Gold Cup for Mexico and USA respectively.

The United connections do not end their though, as the Curaçao squad also contains former United youth product Kenji Gorré.

Kenji Gorré spent 11 years in the United academy, having joined from Manchester City at seven years old.

Curaçao’s recent push to recruit from the Netherlands also sees the inclusion of Riechedly Bazoer for the first time. Being capped by the Netherlands senior side six times, Bazoer is eligible to switch having only featured in friendlies for Oranje.

Other notable names in Curaçao’s preliminary squad include Patrick Kluivert’s son Ruben, and former English Premier League players Vurnon Anita, Leandro Bacuna, and Cuco Martina.

With the Gold Cup set to kick off on July 10th, Chong’s decision to accept Curaçao’s call up or not will soon be known.