The potential impact of Brexit on the Premier League

Great Britain has voted in a referendum to leave the European Union which could have a large impact on the Premier League.

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Prior to this referendum numerous foreign players did not have to qualify for work-permits on the basis they held a European passport. Being part of the European Union meant you could move to any country in the EU and gain employment. 

Players who didn't found it a lot harder to get permission from the government based on work-permit restrictions. 

According to reports from British media outlets including The Guardian and The Telegraph, the following players would not have qualified for work permits, based on the current criteria for non-EU players, had they not had European passports. 

Arsenal
Francis Coquelin 

Mathieu Flamini

Mikel Arteta

Hector Bellerin

Nacho Monreal

Tomas Rosicky

Laurent Koscielny

Serge Gnabry

Bournemouth
Artur Boruc

Sylvain Distin

Joshua King

Burnley
Stephen Ward

Rouwen Hennings

Chelsea
Loic Remy

Kurt Zouma

Marco Amelia

Crystal Palace
Brede Hangeland

Everton

Gerard Deulofeu

Joel Robles

Hull City
Dusan Kuciak

Brian Lenihan

David Meyler

Leicester City

N'Golo Kante

Marcin Wasilewski

Robert Huth

Liverpool
Emre Can

Alberto Moreno

Jose Enrique

Adam Bogdan

Simon Mignolet

Dejan Lovren

Mamadou Sakho

Tiago Ilori

Joao Carlos Teixeira

Manchester City
Jesús Navas 

Bacary Sagna

Eliaquim Mangala

Gaël Clichy

Manchester United
Anthony Martial 

Ander Herrera 

Adnan Januzaj 

David de Gea 

Morgan Schneiderlin

Timothy Fosu-Mensah

Middlesbrough
Dimi Konstantopoulos 

Tomas Mejias

Michael Agazzi

Damia Abella 

Daniel Sanchez Ayala

Tomas Kalas 

Enrique Sola

Southampton
Juanmi

Oriol Romeu

Jose Fonte

Virgil van Dijk 

Maarten Stekelenburg

Florin Gardos

Jordy Clasie

Stoke City
Bojan Krkic

Joselu

Erik Pieters 

Marc Muniesa

Philipp Wollscheid

Jakob Haugaard

Ibrahim Afellay

Giannelli Imbula

Dionatan Teixeira

Sunderland
Fabio Borini

Ola Toivonen

Yann M'Vila

Patrick van Aanholt

Younes Kaboul

Vito Mannone

Jan Kirchhoff 

Jeremain Lens

Swansea City 

Bafétimbi Gomis

Angel Rangel

Jordi Amat

Kristoffer Nordfeldt

Leroy Fer

Alberto Palosch

Tottenham Hotspur
Kevin Wimmer

Michel Vorm

Watford
Mario Suarez

Jose Manuel Jurado

Obbi Oulare

Jose Holebas

Etienne Capoue

Nathan Aké

Steven Berghuis

Joel Ekstrand 

Costel Pantilimon

West Ham United

Dimitri Payet

Pedro Obiang

Angelo Ogbonna

Adrian

In the immediate future all current contracts will be honored and the working permits system will be reformed over the next two years. Further repercussions could arise as a result of the British Pound devaluing, which it has done so rapidly in the hours since the referendum which could result in players demanding higher wages and foreign clubs demanding more money for the transfer of players.  

The current regulations state: 

• Footballers for national associations ranked between 1 and 10 of the FIFA Aggregated World Rankings to have played at least 30% of competitive international matches (FIFA World Cup finals, FIFA World Cup qualifying groups, FIFA Confederations Cup, and continental cup qualifiers and finals (e.g. UEFA European Championships and qualifiers) in the 24 months (or 12 months for players under 21) before the transfer;
• Footballers for national associations ranked 11-20 of the FIFA Aggregated World Rankings to have played at least 45% of games;
• Footballers for national Associations ranked 21-30 to have played at least 60%;
• Footballers for national associations ranked 31-50 to have played at least 75%.

 

Players that meet these criteria are automatically granted a work permit. Exceptions can be made if they do not, but the transfer must be approved by a panel who takes into account such as transfer fee, a player’s salary and the number of matches played in one of the top six European leagues and in continental competitions such as the Champions League.