Charlton adds fire to foreign players argument
Sir Bobby Charlton is worried about England's future
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Thursday, 06, Sep 2007 10:08
England World Cup winner Sir Booby Charlton has added his weight to the argument that the national team is suffering because of the influx of foreign players.
Earlier in the week Sir Trevor Brooking, the FA's director of football development, said home-grown players are finding it difficult to break into the game because of the millions English clubs spend on buying foreign players.
A study by Deloitte also revealed that only 37 per cent of players who played in the opening weekend of the Premier League were English.
And now Charlton claims that England will suffer badly in the future if the number of foreign players plying their trade in this country keeps increasing.
"This is a big problem now. England are really struggling and it is an important enough issue for some kind of measure to be implemented to stop it," said Charlton.
"I know we are in the European Union and everyone is entitled to freedom of movement but at the very least some kind of special committee should be set up to try to find a solution."
Charlton added: "If you look at it, England probably has two decent strikers and if one of them gets injured, as Wayne Rooney is at the moment, we have nobody else.
"When you end up in a state like that, you have to sit back and address it."
The Manchester United legend also claimed it had become harder to unearth home-grown talent and clubs find it easier to go abroad and find good quality players.
But he also warned: "You can't expect to generate good young players if, at the same time, you are bringing in so many who are going to hinder them getting into teams."