Adnan Januzaj: England's interest a joke, says Scotland's Billy Stark

England capping Manchester United's Adnan Januzaj would make a mockery of international football, according to Scotland Under-21 manager Billy Stark.

The 18-year-old is eligible for Belgium, Albania, Serbia and Turkey.

But England manager Roy Hodgson says they could look into selecting the midfielder once he passes Fifa's five-year residency requirements.

"For me, international football could be in danger of becoming a laughing stock," said Stark.

"This might just be me coming from an older generation, but to me that's just not right."

Januzaj's international future has been widely discussed since his first two goals for his club in Saturday's 2-1 win over Sunderland.

To date he has turned down the advances of Belgium, the land of his birth, and has not won a cap at any level for any country.

Januzaj qualifies for Albania through his Kosovan-Albanian parents, Turkey through his grandparents and Serbia as Kosovo's independence has not been recognised by the United Nations.

For England to select the midfielder, who moved to Old Trafford from Anderlecht in 2011, it would require a change to the voluntary agreement between the United Kingdom's home nations that limits eligibility beyond the place of birth of players, parents and grandparents.

"The agreement that the home nations have is that we don't use the residency rule and, instead, we have introduced the five-year schooling requirement," Stark pointed out.

"That's how we got Jordan Rhodes and we just follow those rules.

"The five-year schooling rule is valid because the players are brought up in that country and can feel a sense of identity with that country."

As well as Oldham-born Rhodes, Scotland have used the schooling rule to select Chelsea's former Celtic forward, Islam Feruz, who was born in Somalia.

However, Stark conceded that the residency rule allows other countries to have an advantage over England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

"We probably make it difficult for ourselves because a lot of nations like Germany use the residency rules," he said.

"Maybe we are being a bit dogmatic sticking to our agreement, but until that changes, we should continue with that."