By Sir Hardly Anyone
We are now entering the new world of post-Brexit transfers, and given that the FA is in charge there is no need to say, it is going to be chaotic, making the Rutland livestock auctions look like a walk one the water.
Sadly most journalists and bloggers don’t seem to have much idea about what is going on – at least not judging by their transfer lists which are taking absolutely no account of the new immigration regulations that have now come into force in the UK just as the new transfer window creaks open.
One thing that has hardly got a mention either, largely because a) most journalists are too lazy to do the ground work and b) most editors think that football fans are too thick to understand the regs, is that it is going to be a lot harder to find and buy a gem of a player overseas and train him up, unless the club already has a partnership with a European club.
Now you might remember that Arsenal did once have just such a partnership with a club in Belgium: Beveren. That was a highly innovative approach, but Arsenal were told it was illegal and forced to stop the deal. Then along came Manchester City with similar deals all over the world and they were welcomed with open arms. One rule for them…
As a result Manchester City (and indeed the Red Bull group of clubs across Europe) from now on have a massive advantage over other clubs because they can find players who as yet do not qualify under the new rules for admission to English football. They can instead put the player in a European club they own, and let him develop until he gets the requisite international experience, and then transfer him to Manchester City. Red Bull, although their model is slightly different, can work in a similar way.
If Arsenal are going to keep up with this, they are starting from a long, long way back, unless they have been doing something in secret we none of us know about. Somehow we need to find European clubs that we can have partnerships with so that European players we want to buy can develop there until they reach the number of entry points that will allow them into English football.
Of course this does nothing for the good of the English game, since the new arrangements are not going to encourage clubs to use more English players. But it is the sort of thing the FA like – and besides when have they ever done things that actually work for the good of the game?
And all this has to be kept in mind before we face the technical point of the fact that Arsenal had two players who were paid not to play. We have reduced that number to one since Kolasinac has now left on loan, but even so if we bring in any more non-English or Welsh players then more players are going to be on the “paid not to play” list.
Goal.com have told us that in addition to Kolasinac, we will see Sokratis, William Saliba, Reiss Nelson and Calum Chambers depart. Unfortunately Reiss Nelson and Calum Chambers are not only playing well, in my view but losing them doesn’t help our squad numbers since it is with the foreign players that we have our numbers problem.
So what are the rumours? Well this time our list has a new column: “Permit?” The issue here is, does the player qualify to work in the UK now the post-single-market rules are in place?
Sadly, the issue of whether a player can be registered to play in England post-single market arrangements is complex and it is one that the vast majority of journalists have wilfully ignored, never once mentioning whether the player would qualify for a work permit in our Brave New England.
If you would like to know more there are a lot of details here and if once you have read them you reach a different conclusion from Untold’s highly trained and now totally worn down team as to whether a player can get a work permit or not, please let us know letting us know why and how you’ve reached that conclusion. To be clear, under “Permit?” “No” means that we don’t think the player would get the right to work in England, or for a new club in England (if already here) under the new rules. But of course we are going to have to see some of these transfers go through and watch the tribunals before we can really get this absolutely right.
Here’s the first XI.
| No | Player | From | Details | Source | Permit? |
| 1 | Yves Bissouma | Brighton | Midfield | FoLo | No |
| 2 | Julian Brandt | Borussia Dortmund | Left wing, attacking midfield | Sport Bild | Yes |
| 3 | Brenner | Torino | 20 yr old Brazilian | FoLo | Yes |
| 4 | Patson Daka | Red Bull Salzburg | 22 yr old centre forward | Express, HITC | No |
| 5 | Odsonne Edouard | Celtic | Forward | Goal | No |
| 6 | Eric Garcia | Manchester C | Centre back | HITC says going back to Barce | Yes |
| 7 | Isco | Real Mad | AFC want R,Mad to pay half the player’s wages. Player says he wants Chelsea | Express, CBS, FoLo, Chelsea news, Team Talk, Caught offside | Yes |
| 8 | Tariq Lamptey | Brighton | Replacement for Bellerin | FoLo | Yes |
| 9 | Riqui Puig | Barcelona | Barce may keep him | Mirror | No |
| 10 | Omar Rekik | Hertha Berlin | Under 23 player, now having medical | Just Arsenal, Bild, Mirror | Yes? |
| 11 | Marcel Sabitzer | RB Leipsig | Tottenham want him. £45m. Creative midfield | Mirror, ESPN | Yes |
- At last some clubs and fans are taking on football’s “thought police”
- Arsenal must not let the journalists push them into buying more and more players
- Why buying any new players now would be a disaster for Arsenal
