WANTED! New stars for the Premier League... Englishmen need not apply



Premier League clubs are shunning English footballing talent as never before — with just three of the 29 players signed so far during this summer’s transfer window being home-grown.

With French-born Argentine Gonzalo Higuain, and Spanish duo Isco and Luis Alberto preparing to join fellow Spaniard Jesus Navas and Brazilian Fernandinho in the Premier League, this summer’s transfer window is already proving to be a catastrophe for English players.

Almost 90 per cent of the deals concluded so far have involved foreigners, underlining the fear that Englishmen are becoming an increasingly unwanted commodity for the country’s biggest clubs.

The percentage is set to rise even higher in the coming weeks as deals for German Andre Schurrle, Spain’s Iago Aspas and others are set to be confirmed.

Foreign stars: Manchester City have signed Jesus Navas (below) and Fernandinho (above)



Players have been signed from 18 different countries, ranging from Bulgaria (Aston Villa’s Aleksandar Tonev) to Venezuela (Fulham’s Fernando Amorebieta).



Of the three English players, only Andy Carroll has cost money and his £15million move has been from a club who finished seventh last season, Liverpool, to a team that ended up 10th, West Ham.

The other two Englishmen are untested teenagers plucked from non-league clubs. Sunderland have snapped up Duncan Watmore from Altrincham while West Ham, whose manager Sam Allardyce is one of only four English bosses in the top flight, have taken Danny Whitehead from Stockport.

The only other Briton signed is Scotland striker George Boyd, snapped up by Hull from Peterborough after a successful loan spell. In contrast, five senior Spanish players have been signed already; Navas (Sevilla-Man City), Javier Garrido (Lazio-Norwich), Jose Canas (Betis-Swansea), Adrian (Betis-West Ham) and Antonio Luna (Sevilla-Aston Villa).

By the time Liverpool complete deals for Alberto and Aspas, and City spend more money on Malaga star Isco, the total cost on Spanish players alone will have surpassed £60m. The figures will be a cause for more gloom for both the FA and England manager Roy Hodgson, who have to try to assemble a national team while only 30 per cent of players in the Premier League are eligible to play for England, compared to 50 per cent of the Bundesliga being made up of German players.

Signing on: Andy Carroll shows off his No 9 shirt at West Ham

Even Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert, whose policy of buying British from lower divisions last season was widely praised, has plunged into the overseas market. His five signings so far have comprised a Spaniard, a Dutchman, a Bulgarian and a couple of Danish players.

Mark Cartwright, the technical director at Stoke City and responsible for helping new manager Mark Hughes recruit players this summer, says football economics make it sadly inevitable that clubs will look abroad.

‘Clubs will be quoted £6m for players at Championship clubs but you can get established international players from abroad for the same price,’ said Cartwright.

‘Anybody in their right mind would make the same choice. As a club, you look everywhere for the best deal. And nine times out of 10 you will find the best opportunities abroad. Unfortunately, that is the way football has gone.

‘We would all want to have a local player in the team, or two or three, but the Premier League is a business now and you have to stay in business.’

Former England manager Glenn Hoddle warned in 2008: ‘We need to find a way around the problem of too many overseas players in the Premier League otherwise England are going to be lost to world football.’

But, as the latest figures illustrate, Hoddle’s fears five years ago are now dangerously close to becoming reality.



