I have been answering a lot these questions today, so though this may interest some of you...
What does Brexit vote mean for the Premier League?
- For the next two years or so, nothing really changes
- After the UK exits formally, the existing work permit criteria will also apply to EU players in the EPL
What is the work permit criteria for foreign players?
- A player must have played for his country in at least 75% of its competitive matches during the last two years
- The player’s country must be at or above 70th place in the official FIFA world rankings
How does this impact the Premier League?
- As of now, there are an estimated 80-100 EU players in EPL who do not meet these work permit requirements
- So as per existing rules, after 2 years EPL will lose a large number (10-15%) of its players who are EU nationals
- Also, the prices of quality EU (and Non-EU) players who are eligible for work permit will shoot up. Ditto re quality British players
- The major impact will be EPL club's ability to attract youth from the EU... i.e. no more De Gea / Pique / Martial kind of deals
- This may make the EPL less competitive in the long run
- However, there will be more British players in the EPL
How does this impact Serie A and other leagues?
- A weakening EPL may directly strengthen other leagues
- However the EPL clubs will potentially spend more on top quality players
- Other leagues will benefit from no EPL competition for the following type of players:
1. Quality EU youth players (e.g.: De Gea to Man Utd, Fabregas to Arsenal, etc)
2. Players who have not made it to their NT yet (e.g.: Payet to West Ham, Pelle to Southampton, etc)
What can the FA/UK do to help?
There are two options:
1. Slightly relax work permit criteria. However this will apply equally to EU and Non EU players, so may result in the EPL flooded with cheaper talents from South America & Africa. This could further reduce the opportunities for local players.
2. Completely relax work permit criteria, but add a cap on the total number of foriegn players per club i.e. as it used to be all over Europe before the mid-90s. This is possibly the best solution for the premier league.
Hope that helps.