A leading Premier League academy director has warned Brexit could send the cost of the best English talent “through the roof” as clubs now accelerate plans for the expected end to the free movement of European players below the age of 18. Some Premier League clubs have begun actively planning for that outcome by looking into buying smaller European clubs, setting up satellite academies in Europe or organising education programmes to develop young players until they could be legally transferred to the United Kingdom. The strict footballing independence of Home Nations countries means there is even doubt over whether players below the age of 18 could be transferred between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Clubs in the European Economic Area can transfer players between the ages of 16 and 18 and this arrangement has allowed many high-profile players to join English clubs at a young age, including Cesc Fabregas, Paul Pogba, Hector Bellerin and Gylfi Sigurdsson. Depending on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, British clubs could fall out of that arrangement, either this March with a no-deal Brexit, or by January 2021 following a transition period. Rival European clubs would then have an additional two years to sign the same players. Young talent would also be prevented from leaving a British club before 18, putting an end to moves such as the one made by Jadon Sancho, who left Manchester City for Borussia Dortmund in 2017, aged 17.
The value of UK under-18 footballers could skyrocket after Brexit, as clubs prepare for a possible end to the free movement of young European players. However, the ensuing scramble to secure junior talent would amount to little more than a "transfer race" and would not be "healthy" for young players, Huw Jennings, academy director at Fulham FC and former Premier League academy director, told The Telegraph.