Former Arsenal man, Nico Yennaris, looks set to declare for China after giving up his British passport in a country that does not recognise dual nationalities.

According to a report in China Daily, “China does not recognize dual nationality, so Yennaris has dumped his British passport. But he’s now eligible to play for his adopted country, currently ranked a lowly 74th by FIFA.”

“I hope to help Chinese football,” Yennaris said. “And hopefully one day I can play for the national team as well and we will try to get to a World Cup.”

Yennaris was born in East London to a Chinese mother and a Cypriot father and came through the youth ranks with Harry Kane. “Me and Harry played for the same local team, Ridgeway Rovers, then we both went to Arsenal. Then he left for Tottenham (aged 8),” Yennaris said.

Now one is starring for Spurs and England while the other is playing for Beijing Sinobo Guoan alongside Mousa Dembele.

Yennaris, now 25, featured four times for the Arsenal first team and 52 times for the u21s. He moved to Brentford at the start of 2014 and his contract there ran until 2021.

It is believed the Chinese club paid £5m for Yennaris who cost Brentford £90k from Arsenal and it’s not clear if there was still a sell-on clause in his contract that would benefit Arsenal.

Another former Arsenal youngster, Conor Henderson, 27, also left England, signing for Dunărea Călărași in the Romanian first division back in January. Jay-Emmanuel Thomas, 28, meanwhile, joined his 10th club by signing for Thai side PTT Rayong.