6 greatest players who never received an international cap

#2 Mikel Arteta (Spain)

Arteta is now a coach at Manchester City

A victim of circumstance, Mikel Arteta never represented his country of birth through no fault of his, but for the fact that he was unfortunate to be in the same era as some of the finest midfilders in history.

Arteta was a product of the famed La Masia academy, but having failed to make the cut at Nou Camp, he turned out for different clubs including Rangers and PSG before settling down at Everton.

He initially arrived at Goodison Park on loan from Real Sociedad in 2005, but impressed significantly enough for David Moyes to make the deal permanent, and he would go on to spend the next six seasons with Everton, captaining the side for the last three years of his stay there.

He was transferred to Arsenal in 2011, and went on to achieve success in the FA Cup on two occasions, before announcing his retirement in 2016.

Blessed with creativity and vision, Arteta possessed the technique and passing ability associated with all players who pass through La Masia, and is regularly considered among the greatest players not to have played for their country, and it speaks highly of his technical abilities that upon his retirement, the revered Pep Guardiola snapped him up instantly to be his assistant coach.

He represented Spain at all levels through the youth sides and captained them the U21 team in 2004, but an intense competition for places in midfield meant that he never received an international cap, although he was called up to the squad in February 2009, but pulled out of It just days later with a knee ligament injury which ruled him out for about nine months.

The FA explored possibilities of getting him to switch allegiance, and there were widespread newspaper publications in 2011 to this effect, but as with Carlo Cudicini, Arteta failed to pass two FIFA criteria having to do with schooling for a minimum of five years, and possessing an English passport at age 16.