Roy Hodgson has called on Jack Grealish to decide whether he wants to play for England or the Republic of Ireland.
England manager Hodgson declared an interest in calling Grealish into his squad towards the end of last season when the midfielder played a key role in Aston Villa's escape from relegation.
The 19-year-old was born in Solihull, but qualifies for the Republic because his grandparents were born in Ireland.
The talented teenager rejected a call-up to Martin O'Neill's squad in June as he said he needed time to decide which country to represent.
Yet three months on, Hodgson is still waiting for an answer from the player.
"I'm not 100 per cent certain of what he is waiting for," the Three Lions boss said.
"I would like him to come out and say, 'I've thought about it, I've got the two possibilities and I'm opting for England' and then he will be available for selection. But he has been injured, to be fair, so he wouldn't have been selectable for any team during these September fixtures.
"Now maybe before the October fixtures he might make that decision."
Hodgson will not set a deadline for Grealish to declare his allegiance, but he made it clear his chances of breaking into his squad for Euro 2016 are ebbing away by the minute.
"It would be nice if he says yes. Then he would have a year to see if he could knock one or two of these players off their perch," Hodgson added.
"That would be pleasant but there is no time limit.
"We think he could have a very good international career and we would be more than happy if he chose that career to be England. I made it clear to him, 'It's got to be your decision, it's got to be something you really want to do and that feels right'.''
If Grealish feels he needs talks with Hodgson, the England manager will only speak directly to the player and his family. The player's agent will not be welcome.
"What I don't do is speak to agents about their players,'' Hodgson said.
"I don't go to meetings where an agent sits there and tells me, and I have to deal with that. I wasn't prepared to intervene with that.
"Maybe the FA [Football Association] will have to if the boy insists his agent is there, but I'm not prepared to do that.
"I think it's very inappropriate.''
If Grealish needs convincing that he stands a real chance of making Hodgson's European Championship group, he can look to Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana and Ross Barkley for encouragement.
The trio forced their way into Hodgson's World Cup squad despite limited experience and the England manager stressed following Saturday's 6-0 win over San Marino that places were still up for grabs.
"I can foresee people breaking in,'' he said. "There are quite a few we are watching fairly closely.''
There is a concern that Danny Welbeck, an England regular under Hodgson, and his Arsenal team-mate Jack Wilshere could struggle to be at their peak by next summer if their injury problems continue.
"Welbeck bothers me now,'' Hodgson said of the striker, who is out with a serious knee injury.
"He has already been out for me since March and for Arsenal since April, so that's over four months, isn't it? And now I hear it's another six months, so I can only hope that Danny recovers a bit quicker and then hits the ground running. Daniel is a little bit the same. It's getting on for a year now.''
England booked their ticket to Euro 2016 on Saturday with a predictably comfortable triumph in Serravalle.
Rather than look for a perfect 10 out of 10 record, Hodgson will tinker with his team for the final three qualifiers - the first of which is against Switzerland on Tuesday.
"There's only going to be one goal for us as a team now and that is to have a good Euros,'' Hodgson said.
"Early qualification could give me the opportunity for experimentation.''