By Darin Hutson

Copyright thesouthernreporter

The Melrose 16-year-old was named by Scotland under-17s head coach Brian McLaughlin as part of a squad of 22 to play Italy, Serbia and hosts Portugal in a development tournament earlier this month but opted to throw his lot in with Liam Bramley’s English age-grade team instead. That switch of allegiance saw him selected as one of three goalkeepers in a squad of 23, along with Newcastle United’s Roman Dowell and George Mair, for three warm-up games in Duisburg in Germany this month ahead of under-17 European championship qualifiers in October and November. The former Earlston High School pupil was an unused substitute for wins by 7-5 against Germany on Tuesday, September 9, and 2-1 over Venezuela on Wednesday, September 3, sandwiching an appearance between the posts for a 2-1 victory versus Israel on Saturday, September 6, conceding a goal to Yagel Tarshish on 75 minutes but with Mathis Eboue and Calvin Diakite netting the other way. His new international team are due to play first-round Euro qualifiers at home to Scotland and Lithuania on Tuesday, October 28, and Friday, October 31, respectively and away to Sweden on Monday, November 3, with venues and kick-off times to be confirmed. Vickery’s change of international team follows a switch of clubs taking him south of the border too, having left Hibernian and joined English Premier League side Manchester City’s youth set-up for a transfer fee reported to be in excess of £200,000. That deal, including a sell-on clause, was agreed in March but only went through last month following Vickery’s birthday. The shot-stopper had been in Hibs’ academy since the age of ten, going on to play for head coach Darren McGregor’s under-18s last season and for Scotland’s under-16s. Wishing him well the other side of Hadrian’s Wall, Malky Mackay, the Edinburgh outfit’s sporting director, said: “Ben is a young player with a lot of potential, which is why there was a lot of interest in him from elite clubs below the border. “Developing young players with this potential is credit to our staff and the Hibernian academy. “When clubs like Manchester City show interest in one of our young players, understandably it becomes an opportunity that’s difficult for them to turn down. “After Ben’s successful trial, we worked hard with Manchester City to get a deal that represented his true value rather than the player running his contract down and Hibs receiving the usual training compensation. “We’d like to thank Manchester City for how they conducted themselves during the negotiations and wish Ben all the best for the future.” Vickery is one of two Borderers to be sold to top-flight English sides by Hibs so far this year, the other being Innerleithen’s Josh Landers, signed by West Ham United in January for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £120,000. Striker Landers, 18, has also been in international action this month, for Scotland’s under-19s in Slovenia, scoring once for head coach Neil MacFarlane’s team in a 2-1 loss to Kazakhstan on September 6 and no fewer than four times during a 7-1 thumping of the United Arab Emirates three days later.