From today's Digger. - The bold bit explains a lot - wonder where City will stand if this goes through.
Manchester United and Liverpool have been forced by new regulatory developments at Fifa and Uefa to inflate their bids for Phil Jones and Jordan Henderson respectively. Less than a decade ago the £20m and £16m that it has required to take Henderson, 20, to Anfield and Jones, 19, to Old Trafford would have broken the British transfer record. Today that combined £36m buys you a single England cap.
Clearly, in England, young English talent comes at a premium. There is a simple explanation for this: Fifa is working on introducing a system whereby nine players on every 18-man squad sheet must be homegrown.
Buried amid the eulogies for their president, Sepp Blatter, national associations at Fifa's congress this month voted in favour of new youth development measures. Fifa's player‑status committee, headed by the former Football Association chairman, Geoff Thompson, is holding discussions with national associations, the European Clubs Association and Fifpro as it works up the new rules. Domestic leagues have not yet been invited to have their say. Thompson told the congress: "We must use the qualities associated with the 6+5 concept [a proposal under which clubs would have been compelled to field at least six homegrown players] in trying to manage a workable solution."
The 6+5 idea died a death amid opposition from clubs and, more importantly, from the European Union, which outlawed regulation according to players' nationality. The compromise agreement football struck with the EU was for eight players from every 25-man squad to have been developed within the fielding club's national association.
Until now, Fifa youth-development regulation has not impacted on team selection. But if talks on the new regulations develop as Fifa hopes, then it will. New legislation is expected to be only about a year away. No wonder Henderson and Jones have cost so much.
Manchester United and Liverpool have been forced by new regulatory developments at Fifa and Uefa to inflate their bids for Phil Jones and Jordan Henderson respectively. Less than a decade ago the £20m and £16m that it has required to take Henderson, 20, to Anfield and Jones, 19, to Old Trafford would have broken the British transfer record. Today that combined £36m buys you a single England cap.
Clearly, in England, young English talent comes at a premium. There is a simple explanation for this: Fifa is working on introducing a system whereby nine players on every 18-man squad sheet must be homegrown.
Buried amid the eulogies for their president, Sepp Blatter, national associations at Fifa's congress this month voted in favour of new youth development measures. Fifa's player‑status committee, headed by the former Football Association chairman, Geoff Thompson, is holding discussions with national associations, the European Clubs Association and Fifpro as it works up the new rules. Domestic leagues have not yet been invited to have their say. Thompson told the congress: "We must use the qualities associated with the 6+5 concept [a proposal under which clubs would have been compelled to field at least six homegrown players] in trying to manage a workable solution."
The 6+5 idea died a death amid opposition from clubs and, more importantly, from the European Union, which outlawed regulation according to players' nationality. The compromise agreement football struck with the EU was for eight players from every 25-man squad to have been developed within the fielding club's national association.
Until now, Fifa youth-development regulation has not impacted on team selection. But if talks on the new regulations develop as Fifa hopes, then it will. New legislation is expected to be only about a year away. No wonder Henderson and Jones have cost so much.
Comment