How Brexit may affect the signing of young players in the EPL

Brexit is something that is going to affect British culture in many different ways and football is not going to come out of unscathed. And considering recent news, the time of poaching young talent from other countries might be coming to an end for Premier League clubs.

The departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union brings with it a series of consequences and the Premier League could not escape from this new situation in the British territory. In itself, the English league had certain regulations when it came to signing new foreign players, which is done with the intention of guaranteeing a certain level of players who reach the Premier League.

As of January 1, 2021, when Brexit is implemented and a new transfer window begins, the new regulations for transfers will come into force. This new regulation brings changes that are focused, according to what was indicated by the FA and Premier League spokesmen, on forming teams that mix the best players in the world with British young footballers trained in the youth systems of the clubs. Among the new rules are that clubs will not be able to sign foreign players until they are 18 years old.

This can considerably affect the way English clubs have developed in the last 20 years if we consider that many players have come to English football since they were quite young. An example of this is Cesc Fabregas, who came to Arsenal FC from FC Barcelona when he was only 15 years old and was formed in the youth teams of the Gunners until he reached the first team. A more recent example is Manchester City center back Eric Garcia, who joined the club at the age of 16.

And, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms since there have been many more cases of transfers of under-aged footballers. This could complicate the options available for English clubs when it comes to bringing in talent since the older the player’s age, the bigger the price tag they may have from their clubs, making every signing a bit more difficult, especially in times of post-pandemic crisis.

On the other hand, there is the valuation of British youth players, which would be expected to increase and taking into account that British professional players already have a high value, this will only make it even more difficult for them to be signed by other bigger clubs, just look at the cases of Jack Grealish at Aston Villa or Declan Rice at West Ham.
We will have to wait and see how these new rules develop and what consequences they bring in the short and medium term.