Premier League will face a tougher system in signing players from overseas post-Brexit, with a 15-point criteria likely to restrict the number of imports to the top flight.
The UK is preparing to leave the EU on January 1, with new guidelines in place from the new year as part of a ridiculously messy exit from European rule.
The impact of Brexit will be vast and brutal, particularly given the financial blow of COVID-19, and this will be felt in the Premier League as with every other business.
Football has been given its own system when it comes to granting work permits for the UK, with Governing Body Entry requiring 15 points, based on current performance level and the club they are signing from, to be granted entry.
The Mail report that “their national team, the quality of the selling club and the league they are in” will be considered, with an ‘exceptions panel’ in place for those who ‘score’ between 12 and 14.
It is a similar system to that which has seen Allan Rodrigues, Taiwo Awoniyi and Anderson Arroyo denied work permits upon joining Liverpool in recent years, but now it will be applied to a broader spectrum of players.
This is described as a “win for the FA,” who have campaigned for a stronger focus on homegrown talent and pushed for an 18-point threshold, while the Premier League advocated nine.
Players under the age of 21 will also be subject to the 15-point system, though those coming from 66 top-level academies across the world will be automatically granted three points.
“At senior level, an ‘autopass’ system means those with regular appearances for clubs ranked by FIFA in the top 50 will qualify automatically,” the Mail‘s Mike Keegan writes.
“The maximum number of foreign players in a squad will remain at 17.
“To ease FA fears that the top flight will be flooded with foreign youngsters, clubs will only be permitted to sign three under-21s in January. From then on, that figure may double.”
This follows a report from the Telegraph that revealed the Premier League had agreed to a limit on the number of non-homegrown young players that could be signed from January 1.
Any agreement of this regard is designed to “stop clubs stockpiling young overseas players, which may prevent young English talent getting opportunities.”
While the new measures are unlikely to affect the majority of signings that have been made in recent years, it could thwart Premier League clubs from bringing in high-potential youth talents.
Liverpool signed Marcelo Pitaluga, Fabian Mrozek, Mateusz Musialowski and Melkamu Frauendorf for their academy ranks this summer, and all four deals would have come under question within these new rules.
A vote among Premier League shareholders is expected to be held on Monday, while a review on any measures put in place will be undertaken in February.
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