Johansson blames foreigners

Johansson blames foreigners

The head of European football has blamed too many foreigners in the Premier League for England’s failure to progress in the World Cup.

Lennart Johansson, UEFA president and FIFA vice-president, said the influx of foreign players was stifling home-grown talent at the top level of club football.

He wants to see a return to some sort of limit on the number for foreign players but accepts that is not easy under European labour laws.

Asked for his view of England’s failure to produce their best, Johansson said: "The fact is that the big clubs in Europe are buying foreign players and don’t give the opportunity to the home-produced players.

"The club football in the Premier League in England is at his highest possible level. I am not criticising that. But I prefer the old system where you had a maximum of five players from abroad. It gave a balance. We are trying hard to change this but it is not easy."

Both Johansson and FIFA president Sepp Blatter have noted that Arsenal played some of their Champions League matches without a single English player in the side.

Against Real Madrid notably, Theo Walcott was the only English player in the squad.

UEFA have passed rules that will eventually ensure club squads of 25 contain eight home-grown players - but of any nationality - though at the moment that will only apply to European competition.

Copyright.....continued below

Advertisement starts

Advertisement ends