Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury has hoped that his decision to switch allegiance from England to Bangladesh will open up avenues for Bangladeshi players to play in European leagues.

The 27-year-old on Thursday announced on his social media handles that he wants to represent Bangladesh at the international stage after getting the final clearance from FIFA's players' status committee.

In an interview with The Athletic, the defensive midfielder opened up about the reason for his switch, his connection with Bangladesh and the country's football fans.

"It's something that's been in the works for a couple of years," said Hamza, who has represented England in seven matches at the under-21 level.

"I represented England in the youth team, but as my career progressed, it came to fruition that is not an option for me.

"It's something I've definitely always had in the back of my mind, that I'd like to represent Bangladesh — and the people of Bangladesh more importantly…..I also feel like it's something that I wanted to do to have some more exposure for Bangladesh on the footballing stage," the Leicester City FC Academy product said.

While there are many Bangladeshi-origin footballers playing in various leagues across continents, Hamza will become the most high-profile player to don the red and green jersey. He will also be the latest foreign-based player to represent Bangladesh – a path first travelled by current captain Jamal Bhuiyan 11 years ago -- with hopefully many more to follow suit in the coming days.

Bangladesh Football Federation president Tabith Awal, in a press briefing at his Gulshan residence on Friday morning, said that they have contacted other talented diaspora players to follow the same route.

"We believe Bangladesh has immense talent, both within the country and among the diaspora. I am confident Hamza will inspire others to don the Bangladesh jersey," Awal told reporters.

Hamza, too, was speaking along the same lines during the interview with The Athletic.

"I know they (Bangladeshis) are absolutely crazy about football. I hope I can open up channels for more Bangladeshis to play in the top five leagues or in Europe, or just have a way of getting themselves into the bigger leagues and giving them some more exposure.

"Hopefully, in time, I can put into place some sort of structure in the younger age groups and the younger local teams to be able to do that," the footballer, born to a Bangladeshi mother and Grenadian father, said.

With Hamza's debut for the Red and Greens expected to come as soon as on March 25 next year when Bangladesh play their first Asian Cup Qualifiers match against India in Kolkata, the Leicestershire-born footballer was confident that his Bangladeshi heritage and culture will help him ease into the Bangladesh dressing room.

"I'm sure that they've got a really good dressing room that hopefully welcomes me with open arms," Hamza said. "I am sure they speak English, but I also speak enough Bangladeshi to communicate. I'm looking forward to learning their traditions and their culture."