Since the dawn of time, great international players have come to play in the English Premier League. George Best, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil, Luis Suarez, Pre-Chelsea Fernando Torres. England is known for having the best league in the world and the reason I believe Ronaldo to be better than Messi. Ronaldo has proven he can do it on a rainy Tuesday in Stoke, I think. So, with such a wealth of international, and in particular European, talent on display, what would a post-Brexit Premier League look like?
The answer is that it would probably not look that much different. At least not for the next couple of years. However, seeing as both sides of the campaign like to use the 'worst case scenario scare the shit out of everyone' tactic, I will do the same. Why? Because it's fun.
The main battlefield for the campaigns has been immigration so that's where I'll start. In England, if a Premier League club wishes to by an overseas player, they can buy one of two types of player. European or non-European. The distinction is simple, European players do not require a work permit but non-European players do (we'll use E and nE from now on). If we leave the EU and restrict all immigration as far as the eye can see, as the Leave campaign say is possible, then every E will need a work permit, just like nE. This is incredibly problematic because the requirements for a work permit in football are very strict. The player needs to be "internationally established at the highest level" and someone "whose employment will make a significant contribution to their sport at the highest level." On this basis, no young nE will ever be able to join a Premier League team. But that's not so bad, there are plenty of young E's knocking around right?
But, if we leave, those young E's will have to get work permits to join a Premier League club. Suddenly not so rosy. Young players with the calibre of Cristiano Ronaldo and pre-Chelsea Cesc Fabregas who were not 'internationally established' when they signed for Manchester United and Arsenal respectively could never have joined in the first place. We'd be handing that quality of talent straight to other European nations.
Premier League teams would have to start fielding young players from their own academies, which would mean more James Milner's and more Jordan Henderson's prancing around and losing the ball in every team. No one wants to see that. You could argue that it helps to develop home-grown talent. It doesn't. Anyone who's good gets to play, whether you're British, E or nE. If the player is not good, he doesn't play. It's as simple as that.
However, even if the immigration was waived for footballers as they provide entertainment and are economically beneficial, how do we know we'll be able to afford them in a post-Brexit world? If, as Remain claim, our economy would tank if we left the EU then surely the value of the pound will go with it. In that scenario, we would be unable to pay the top players the wages they demand. Prices across the country would go up thanks to inflation and Adnan Januzaj would be available for a steal at £45m. Suddenly, the British transfer record would be smashed by consecutive purchases over the course of one transfer window and the overall spending by Premier League teams would crash past the £2bn mark well before the August deadline. Mainly spent on mediocre but necessary signings like Andros Townsend, Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott. In a worst case scenario, the £100m mark is broken for the first time with Manchester United willing to 'splash out' on Dele Alli because of one good season, making a mockery of the transfer record because Real Madrid had offered Tottenham just €95m, which, because of the new exchange rate, is roughly the same.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. It's the most watched sport on the world, nothing tangible will change, it'll just mean more paperwork for the clubs, that's all. Comment about your opinions of how the Premier League will look post-Brexit.
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