FA’s Brexit plans could force Blues to overhaul squad
PEP Guardiola could be forced to drastically change his City squad if the FA’s plans for life after Brexit are accepted.
The UK is currently in the process of leaving the European Union after a popular vote in 2016, with the country scheduled to leave this coming March.
As a result of the divorce, Premier League clubs could find it more difficult to sign players from European countries as any new signings would have to fulfil the same criteria as non-EU signings to be granted a work permit.
City fell foul of this in August, when it was ruled that Douglas Luiz was not exceptional enough measured by playing time, international standing and value despite recommendations from Guardiola and Brazil coach Tite.
The Times reports that the FA have a plan in place to grant work permits for all foreign players coming to England after Brexit, in order to ensure the Premier League remains its popularity and status in terms of entertainment and competitiveness.
However, as part of that clubs will be required to slash their quota of those stars from 17 to 12 in order to create more opportunities for homegrown stars to prosper.
Talks are planned for this week, with no change expected until at least the end of 2020.
City currently have 17 foreign players in their squad: Sergio Aguero, Claudio Bravo, Danilo, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, David Silva, Vincent Kompany, Aymeric Laporte, Fernandinho, Riyad Mahrez, Eliaquim Mangala, Benjamin Mendy, Bernardo Silva, Nicolas Otamendi, Leroy Sane, Ederson, Oleksandr Zinchenko.
If the plans were confirmed, Guardiola would have to replace five of these stars with homegrown players by the time the new regulations were put in place.
Of these, seven will be 30 or over by the end of 2020: Silva, Aguero, Bravo, Gundogan, Kompany, Fernandinho and Otamendi - while City have also considered offers for Zinchenko and Mangala.
Five of those nine could be culled while being able to keep all the players in the prime of their careers, although quality replacements would still be needed for any players that are moved on.
The idea behind the new plan is for homegrown players to make up half of the Premier League squad.
City currently have four current England internationals - Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph, Kyle Walker and John Stones - while Phil Foden has also caught the eye of manager Gareth Southgate.
Tosin Adarabioyo, Patrick Roberts, Matt Smith and Manu Garcia are among the young Blues currently out on loan getting firstteam experience, while Guardiola has named Adria Bernabe, Brahim Diaz, Felix Nmecha and Claudio Gomes this season as youngsters that have promising futures in an academy that remains highly-rated.