‘Don’t use Brexit to stop stars’
MIKEL ARTETA has warned the FA they risk stifling the development of English players if they use Brexit to slow down the influx of foreign players.
The Arsenal manager, who benefited from the European Union’s freedom of movement to come to the UK in 2002 as a 20-year-old, thinks the current success of England national teams has been down to home-grown youngsters raising their game to compete with the best from around the world.
‘Now they [England] are on the right path,’ said Arteta. ‘The age group they have is incredibly good, with the quality they have now. But that is because they’re surrounded all around by other senior players, some foreigners, foreign managers, English managers, English owners, foreign owners.
‘There is variety and that’s what makes them rich and good.’
The Premier League and FA are at loggerheads over what the immigration policy will look like next year when Britain is due to stop using European Union rules.
The FA want the Premier League to increase the number of home-grown players in 25-man squads from 13 to 17 but the Premier League are opposed, saying it will leave them at a disadvantage to competitors abroad. ‘There is a lot of talk but I prefer to wait until the resolution,’ added Arteta. ‘I have a clear idea what I’d like but publicly to say that, I don’t think it’s the right time.’
What is clear is that the modus operandi once used so effectively by Arsenal to recruit 16-year-olds such as Cesc Fabregas will come to an end. FIFA only permit transfers abroad at 18 and transfers across
European Union borders were only allowed because their rules on freedom of movement across member states superseded football rules. Arteta was one of the first generation of players to benefit from those rules.
Arteta, who moved to England in 2005, has a deep appreciation of the football culture here and when, under Fabio Capello in 2010 England were woefully short of the kind of midfield strength Arteta could offer, he attempted to play for England only to be blocked by FIFA rules.
‘It was because I spent 85 per cent off my career here and I felt so well respected and grateful for what I was experiencing,’ he said.