Joe Allen: Rob Page rules out Wales return for Swansea City midfielder
- Published
Joe Allen acknowledges Rob Page after being substituted in his final Wales appearance last November
Wales manager Rob Page has ruled out asking Joe Allen to come out of international retirement.
Swansea City's 33-year-old midfielder called time on his Wales career in February after 74 caps.
Allen's former team-mate, Owain Tudur Jones, had urged Page to convince the ex-Liverpool player to reverse his decision.
But the Wales boss said: "If Owain knows Joe he knows he's not easily swayed."
He added: "I had the phone call [from Allen]. He expressed his decision and need to retire from international football because he wanted to focus on club football because of the injuries he was picking up.
"Let's not forget what we had to do with him to get him to the World Cup. We took him, knowing he was never going to play the first game and potentially have to miss the second game.
"We did everything in our power to get him fit for the World Cup and those games.
"After that, domestically he's struggled a little with injuries and that's without international football."
Jones' call for Allen to return came in the wake of Wales' disappointing June international window.
Page's side were embarrassed as they were beaten 4-2 at home to Armenia before losing 2-0 in Turkey.
Having won only one of their last 12 games in all competitions, Wales are fourth in their Euro 2024 qualifying group, five points behind leaders Turkey with only four matches left to play.
Wales talisman Gareth Bale, Chris Gunter and Jonny Williams have also ended their international careers since the 2022 World Cup.
But Page insisted Wales must look forward and drew parallels with John Toshack's rebuilding process in his second spell in charge in 2004.
"What's important now is that we don't panic. I'm not going to panic - I'm the one in charge," he said.
"Who else do I call? Do I give Bale a ring and try and get him back involved?
"There's a plan ahead and the next thing for us is to get the young ones involved.
"I'm probably at a similar stage now, not quite to that extent, to when John Toshack was in charge and introduced Aaron [Ramsey], Gareth, Gunter and those players.
"Now we've got to get the likes of JJ (Jordan James) who is playing in the Championship and Luke Harris, who's shown great potential, playing. He's got to get a loan move, play games, score goals and earn the right to be involved with us.
"They're young lads, they're going to be the future of Welsh football."
Allen was a key figure as Wales, who had not featured at a major tournament since 1958, qualified for Euro 2016 - where they reached the semi-finals - and Euro 2020 as well as last year's World Cup.
Joe Allen's one appearance so far this season came in the Carabao Cup against Northampton Town
Jones, who knows Allen well having played with him for Wales and Swansea City, said on BBC Radio Cymru's Coridor Ansicrwydd podcast in June that Page's team will not reach next year's European Championship without the Pembrokeshire-born player.
Page said there would be no chance of Allen returning, even if the player contacted him to offer to make himself available again.
"No there's no difference," Page said.
"There's a plan moving forward and it's about getting these young players involved because we've got to look at the future of Welsh football.
"There was no persuading Joe Allen to stay on. He knew what he wanted to do, [when we were] on international camps he wanted to stay [at Swansea] and get his body in a position where he was able to play, and I don't think that's panned out for him."
Allen has been troubled by injury issues since returning to south Wales from Stoke City in the summer of 2022.
He only just made it to the World Cup after injuring a hamstring in his ninth Swansea appearance last season, and suffered further fitness setbacks later in the campaign.
Allen has played just once so far in 2023-24 having picked up a muscle problem in pre-season, though he is now fit and has won praise from new Swansea head coach Michael Duff for his contribution in the early stages of the new season.
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