Football Legends Not Looking Kindly on Da Silva

English football legends worry that the huge number of foreign players in the Premiership may weaken the England team.

English football greats Sir Bobby Robson, Geoff Hurst and Rio Ferdinand are only some of those fearing that bringing too many foreign players to the Premiership may seriously harm the game of the England side in the future, writes Thisislondon.co.uk. 

Foreigners or young English players? 

It is a stunning fact that as many as 60 percent of the players who will start the new season are foreigners. If we only look at the strongest four teams – Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea – the number rises to 72 percent. 

Football legend Sir Bobby Robson voiced his concerns about the future of English football. 

"If we persist in bringing in so many foreign players, there will be less and less chance for youngsters in the academies to come through,” said Robson. 

Record number of foreign players in the Premier League  

331 foreigners will be kicking off the new season, which is the greatest number in history. The reason for this, along with the fact that arguably the best football in the world is played in England, must also be the huge amount of media exposure and the growing sums in contracts that the players are getting.

Three transfers were mentioned, among them the one of our Eduardo Da Silva, who went from Dinamo to Arsenal. Also mentioned were the arrival of Malouda to Chelsea and Fernando Torres to Liverpool. The transfers reawakened the fears concerning the England side qualifying for the European championship because their game has evidently grown weaker as a result of poor breakthrough opportunities for young English players. 

The downfall of the England team 

Reading manager Steve Coppell also expressed his concern. 

"In the short term it is making the Premier League the most attractive in the world. Because there is so much money we can get the best players. But if English players are not playing in the Premier League how can we expect the national team to be the best in the world?” Coppell pointed out. 

England hero Geoff Hurst, who scored a hat trick in 1966 that earned the team the title of world champions, has a similar opinion. He says that he fears that the England team may sink even deeper and their chances of repeating the historic success may weaken.   

It is certain that the arrival of Da Silva, Malouda and Torres will provide significant reinforcement to the clubs and make people more interested in the Premier League, but the fears of all those who worry about the future of the national team may be justified.