Gareth Southgate leads Brexit charge to unearth future Three Lions heroes
GARETH Southgate is leading the post-Brexit charge to unearth the next generation of Three Lions heroes, we can reveal.
The England manager wants to increase the number of home-grown top flight players to improve our World Cup chances.
He held a summit with Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes this week along with out-going Football Association boss Martin Glenn.
The meeting discussed the future framework for our post-EU system of work permits that would be required after leaving the EU.
Discussions also focused on a new immigration system would be implemented after the transition period in January 2021 during the frenetic transfer window.
The FA have already suggested cutting the number of non-home grown players from 17 to 13 in each 25 man squad.
Current laws state players from within the EU can sign for English clubs under freedom of movement rules.
Players between 16 and 18 are currently allowed to join English clubs from the European Economic Area.
This could end in the unlikely event of a ‘no deal’ scenario or after a transition period.
Southgate has said the situation is “incredible” as potential England players fell from 33 per cent last season to 25 per cent one weekend late last year.
He has spoken about trying to improve the chances of players aged 17-21 year-olds and “trying to find this missing piece of development for English football”.
He previously said: “Nobody can tell me that if players are good enough, they will come through. That is not true. There are plenty of players who are good enough.”
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He added: “In terms of the quotas, we are in ongoing discussions on those. What’s clear is that we can’t allow the trend to continue as it is because at what point do we stop?”
The Premier League has previously said they don’t want Brexit to weaken squads or harm the ability to sign international players.
An FA spokesperson last night said: “We are continuing to work with the Premier League, EFL and a range of government departments, including: DCMS; Home Office; Treasury during this consultation period.”
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