Barnsley star Callum Styles set for Hungary debut next month after qualifying through grandmother despite English birth
CALLUM STYLES is living proof good things come to those who wait.
And in the Barnsley player’s case, he happens to be a good person, too.
Styles will be named in the Hungary squad on March 14.
The midfielder and wing-back, 21, qualifies through his grandmother.
He now has Hungarian citizenship after months of work behind the scenes by the country that adopted him.
His bow could be against Serbia on March 24, followed by a clash with Northern Ireland five days later.
But come the summer, he can really up his profile as Hungary play England on June 4 and June 14 in the Nations League.
Group Three qualifier games against Italy and Germany will also be coming up.
Given the abilities that saw him named the “Bury Messi” when he first started out with his now-defunct home-town club at Gigg Lane, he may then attract Premier League interest.
He now has an EU passport so, Brexit or not, he can also take his pick of clubs on the Continent.
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Then again, Styles could have made a switch in January if he had wanted.
Blackburn, Nottingham Forest and New York Red Bulls all moved in for him — offering around £1.5million to a club seemingly destined for relegation.
Had he pushed for a transfer, the Tykes would probably have taken the money and he would have earned a lot more.
But Styles made it clear he was not going to do a runner from Oakwell, insisting he wanted to stay to help the survival battle.
And as Saturday’s shock 3-2 win over Middlesbrough proves, he and his team-mates have not given up the fight.
Come the summer, he almost certainly leave — but the club should at least double what they were being offered for him.
And Styles will be able to leave with his head held high and a whole new Hungarian horizon.
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