Brexit: Premier League Clubs might not have signed these players if Britain wasn't in the EU?

New Delhi: By now, you would have known that 51% voters of Britain have voted to leave the European Union, a situation which has flooded the future of English Football with questions. On further understanding the repercussions, the transfer market is the most likely activity to be affected by this political decision.

Earlier, Football clubs were not restricted from signing players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Dimitri Payet and Cesc Fabregas for the Premier League, but under the current referendum for non-Europeans, they would not have been unable to do so.

The FA rule which prevents clubs from doing so is -

"Clubs are only permitted to sign non-EEA players who have performed in a minimum percentage of competitive matches for their country in the two years prior to their arrival."
The required percentage of minutes decreases the higher a player’s country is placed in FIFA’s world rankings.

In case of teenagers, article 19 in FIFA’s regulations limits international transfers to players aged over 18 and 16 incase of EEA states, which no more constitutes Britain.

Here is a list of players and teenagers who would not be playing at their respective clubs under the current scenario -

Arsenal:

Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal, Yaya Sanogo (Inelligibile for FA Work Permit)

Hector Bellerin, Francis Coquelin, Serge Gnabry, Wojciech Szczesny, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Gedion Zelalem, Ismael Bennacer, Julio Pleguezuelo, Kyrstian Bielik (Inelligible to join without EU/EEA exemption from Fifa transfer rules)

Chelsea:

Loic Remy, Marco Amelia, Cesar Azpilicueta, Thibaut Courtois (Inelligibile for FA Work Permit)

Tomas Kalas, Bertrand Traore, Nathan Ake, Andreas Christensen, Charly Musonda, Josimar Quintero, Miro Muheim, Ali Suljic, Joseph Colley (Inelligible to join without EU/EEA exemption from Fifa transfer rules)

Manchester United:

Anthony Martial, Ander Herrera, David de Gea, Morgan Schneiderlin (Inelligibile for FA Work Permit)

Adnan Januzaj, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Indy Boonen (Inelligible to join without EU/EEA exemption from Fifa transfer rules)

Manchester City:

Jesus Navas, Bacary Sagna, Eiaquim Mangala, Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri (Inelligibile for FA Work Permit)

Some other notable players who might have missed out on an opportunity to play in England include, West Ham's Dimitri Payet, Leicester City's N'Golo Kante, Tottenham Hotspur's Kevin Wimmer, etc.

Though no one is expecting the regulation to be applied retrospectively on the current players, but there would be issues when the contracts expire unless the FA tweaks the rule book.