Spurs loanee called up to Northern Ireland squad | OneFootball

As you all know by now, the first international break of 2025 is here. The first games will be taking place on Thursday, and the final games on Tuesday - or the early hours of Wednesday morning GMT.

There have been plenty of call ups for Spurs players, both those currently at the club, and those whom are currently out on loan. All of a sudden, there has one more loanee who has received an international call up.

That player is Jamie Donley, currently on loan at Leyton Orient, who has been called up to the Northern Ireland senior team, ahead of friendlies at home to Switzerland, and away to Sweden - where he could come up against Spurs midfielder Lucas Bergvall.

Spurs youngster gets national team call up at just twenty years of age

The game against Switzerland will take place on Friday, the 21st of March, at 19:45 GMT - whilst the game at Sweden is on Tuesday, the 25th of March, at 18:00 GMT.

As for the player himself, he was born in Antrim, Northern Ireland, to a Northern Irish Father and an English Mother, and moved to Colchester as a young boy - before joining the Spurs academy in 2013, when he was eight years old.

In terms of age group career, he represented England at U15, U16, U17, and then U18 level, before representing Northern Ireland U19, and then England again at U19 level. He most recently played for the Young Lions in November of 2023, as he scored twice in a friendly win over Mexico - a game that Will Lanskhear also scored in.

However, he will now represent Northern Ireland when it comes to senior football. At least for now - with the upcoming games not competitive, he would still be able to switch to England at a later date, even if he makes his debut during this break. Still, you would imagine that Northern Ireland is where his international career will lie long term.

It does mean that Donley will miss Orient's League One clash at Mansfield Town this Saturday. They will play Stevenage on Thursday, the 27th of March, so that will be slightly touch and go, but he should probably just about make that game, you would imagine.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill spoke about the young midfielder's introduction, saying: We’re also pleased to welcome Jamie into the squad. He is a young player that we have been tracking for some time.

We are waiting on the relevant paperwork from FIFA to be processed before we can determine whether he plays an active role in any of the games, but having him in and around the place to familiarise himself with the place and stuff I felt was important.”