Brexit vote could change Premier League

The UK’s decision to leave the EU could change the whole Premier League.

Many of the English leagues star players would not have played in the Premier League last season had the UK already left the European Union, according to investment banker Keith Harris.

Harris, who has helped oversee the sale of numerous football clubs including Chelsea and Manchester City, told Sky Sports News that N’golo Kante, Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku and Dimitri Payet would not have been allowed to join their clubs.

Currently players from countries within the EU can work in Britain without a work permit but that is set to change following the vote to leave, although it is likely to be several years before the effects are felt.

Last season 432 European players were registered to play in the Premier League. Those players are unlikely to have to leave following the vote, but new players will not have an automatic right to live and work in the UK.

“It was a shock result,” said Harris. “There are four players that we can reflect on and the impact they had on their clubs last year, who may not have been able to come in.

“Kante, who had a huge impact at Leicester, Martial at Manchester United, Lukaku at Everton and Payet at West Ham.

Europeans could now be subject to the same immigration rules as non-EU players, under which a player from a top-10 nation has to have played in 30 per cent of their games in the two years prior to the date of application to be granted a work permit.