IMPACT OF UK LEAVING EU "APPEAL TO INVESTORS" Contd

APPEAL TO INVESTORS

The Premier League is presently very attractive to foreign investors, with 14 clubs having total or substantial ownership from abroad. The good news for such investors is that a Brexit vote would make EPL clubs cheaper to buy, assuming the sterling falls in value.

This assumes that the Premier League remains as popular a product as it has been during the UK’s membership of the EU. Should it be more difficult for foreign investors to buy UK companies, then clubs’ values may fall as they will be seen as being less desirable.

One of the attractions of Premier League clubs is that with new domestic and overseas TV deals commencing in 2016-17, they are more profitable than ever before.

A new breed of investor, who can see financial profit as well as the kudos and glory of owning a club, has been attracted to the Premier League. If the potential profits of buying and selling a team were to fall due to a weakening of the sterling, this could deter investment.

ABILITY TO SIGN PLAYERS

At present, about 65 per cent of Premier League players are from overseas. English clubs are currently free to sign any players with an EU passport because of freedom of movement of labour rules. What will happen if a Brexit vote arises in relation to movement of labour is a huge unknown.

The best case scenario from the point of view of fans (and probably clubs too) is that the UK’s new relationship with the EU continues to provide freedom of labour movement. In this case there would be no change to the ability of clubs to attract players from the EU.

The worst case scenario would be that the current rules on signing non-EU players would be applicable to those from the EU, too. These rules only allow signings if the player has played a certain percentage of international fixtures, linked to a sliding scale dependent upon the country’s FIFA ranking.

Had such rules been applied historically, then the Premier League would not have seen signings such as Eric Cantona, Paolo Di Canio and Cristiano Ronaldo when they joined clubs at that stage of their careers. More recently, champions Leicester City would not have been able to sign N’Golo Kante from Caen 12 months ago.

Brexit supporters claim that this will allow more opportunities for domestic players, especially young ones, to break through into teams. In addition this would have a positive impact on the England national team.

This does seem at odds with the general football mantra of ‘if they are good enough they are old enough’ that comes from most managers. Club owners want access to the widest pool of talent possible, so it is no surprise to hear the likes of Karren Brady, chairman at West Ham, give support to the Remain campaign for the referendum.

By Kieran Maguire