Foreign Premier League purchases create a ‘worrying trend’ on future England stars, according to FA CEO Mark Bullingham, who admits the system needs changing to allow some clubs to buy players before their value skyrockets
- The FA’s CEO has raised concerns about the number of Premier League imports
- Mark Bullingham believes it is having an impact on future England stars
- He says the system must change so players come in before their value rockets
The CEO of the FA says the number of players being signed from abroad by Premier League clubs presents a ‘worrying trend’ because of the knock-on effect it is having on players who can play for England.
That is despite it becoming more difficult for clubs to sign players from inside the European Union since Brexit, due to the requirement that they are both 18 and have the necessary number of points to comply with the required Governing Body Endorsement (GBE).
Premier League CEO Richard Masters claimed earlier this week that Brexit and the introduction of the GBE system has led to an increase in transfer fees – with Premier League clubs spending a whopping £815m in the January transfer window alone – and called for changes to be made to the GBE rules to allow for clubs to more easily sign talent from EU clubs.
And while Mark Bullingham, CEO of the FA, also says he is keen to see clubs more easily sign top younger talent from abroad, he believes the number of players being signed from elsewhere is a concern due to the impact it is having on English players.
‘Our position is that the current system does have challenges. It’s not perfect and we want to continue to refine that,’ he explained.
Mark Bullingham, CEO of the FA, says he wants clubs to more easily sign young foreign talent
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‘The one that a lot of Premier League clubs pull out is that can they get access to world class talent a bit earlier? Can they get access to a slightly broader range of players?
‘Because their perception is that partly, some of the transfer fees are a result of them going after a smaller number of players.
‘I think the reality is there are only a small number of players who will actually be adding value to Premier…