The youngster's career has stagnated a bit over the past two seasons and a new challenge could see the defender edge back towards international honours.

Good. Because I've been sitting on a £100 bet (at 10/1) that Anton and his big bro Rio will take to the field together in England shirts at some point during their careers.

At the time it seemed like a good punt. Rio had grown some stupid hair affair but was cast-iron England material, and he has moved very little from that point. Anton, on the other hand, was being marshalled by some of the best defenders in the land at the time. And Tomas Repka. He was also going to, over time, experience the best of continental flair from team-mates Tevez and Mascherano. Oh dear, now what happened there?

These footy bets are all very well, especially when you hear about Chris Kirkland's Dad scooping ten grand on a 12-year-old £100 bet that his son would one day play for England.

But for anyone contemplating a career in long-term punditry, I'd recommend you'd consider a few things. Firstly, bookies generally know what they're doing and even in giving you odds of 25/1 on a random punt, the true likelihood of that happening is something in advance of those numbers.

Secondly, in waiting fifteen years for your bet to come in, there's a fair chance your bookmaker has cashed in his lot and is waking up to pinacoladas in Magaluf.

And most importantly, even if you do clear up and scoop the cash, the patterns of inflation and the vagaries of recessions and credit crunches means your initial £100 is probably worth the same as your winnings anyway.

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