It was Cyrus Christie a couple of months ago, now it's Harry Arter's turn to have Ireland fans wondering what he can bring to Martin O'Neill's squad that isn't there already. The Bournemouth midfielder is the only uncapped player called up to the provisional squad ahead of the crunch clash with Poland at the end of the month and we want to know what we can expect.
Although Bournemouth and Arter are riding high in the Championship, he's certainly had his work cut out for him to get to that position. Born in London, Arter came through Charlton's youth academy but despite encouraging early signs he was eventually released and he made the decision to sign for Woking in 2009 who were then in the lowly Conference South.
He stuck around for just a year before there was a clamour to sign him from Football League clubs. He chose Bournemouth and, in hindsight, it was an excellent decision with both club and player kicking on no end in the intervening years.
In terms of his international allegiance, Arter has been focused on Ireland since a young age. He qualifies through his grandparents and was included in the Ireland youth set-up as early as the u16s. He didn't progress past the u19s however, but now it looks like he might get a chance at senior level.
Speaking at the squad announcement earlier today, Martin O'Neill explained why he wanted to take a look at the 25 year old.
He is having a very good season. I think, yeah, why not? It would be nice to have a look at him.
He's obviously played at under-age level and I wanted to introduce another fresh face. There are no guarantees of anything. I've met him twice now and I think he deserves that chance.
This might be a surprise to him as I didn't say anything to him. He will hopefully be pleasantly surprised.
In terms of playing style, Arter is a technical central midfielder with an eye for a goal, as shown by this cracker against Watford earlier in the year.
O'Neill's words may suggest that Arter has his work cut out to make the final squad for the Poland game. However, with Bournemouth pushing for promotion, Arter could soon find himself in the Premier League and he is certainly a good option to Ireland to have if we're looking for some creativity from deep.
