England might have beaten world champions Germany in the last round of internationals, but there’s always room for improvement.
Former captain Sol Campbell thinks the way to secure the Three Lions’ future is for the country to leave the European Union.
‘The Premier League is in danger of becoming a free-for-all because, along with the star players, we are seeing teams load up with too many mediocre overseas footballers, especially from Europe, crowding out young English and British talent,’ Campbell writes in a column for The Mail on Sunday.
A number of top Premier League players, including West Ham United’s Dimitri Payet, Leicester City star N’Golo Kante and Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea, would potentially be forced to leave the country if the British public vote to leave the EU.
Over 100 #BPL players would be forced to leave the country should Britain vote 'yes' on #Brexit. pic.twitter.com/v1TAU8gMQG
— 10 – The Ultimate Sports App (@10appofficial) March 31, 2016
‘Sometimes, when I watch a side with some pretty mediocre foreign footballers, I am thinking: ‘Where is the English talent that could be out there now?’ At the moment, there is not much we can do about it,’ Campbell adds.
‘If we had proper control of who can come in and out of Britain, we could attract the best of the best wherever they come from, while not letting in those who will be less of an asset.’
Campbell has not passed comment on the fact that Germany, Spain and Italy, the last three World Cup winners, are also EU countries with a large number of foreign nationals playing in their domestic leagues.