The English Premium: Exploring the cost of English players
In the Premier league era, we have witnessed exorbitant fees being paid out for English players. This has become so ubiquitous across the 20 Premier league clubs that the term ‘English premium’ has been coined. This premium often incites a perceived lack of value for such players. So why do clubs spend over the odds to sign English players?
Homegrown
The Football Association, the Premier leagues governing body, specifies that for each club a maximum of 17 ‘non-homegrown’ players can be registered. With a maximum squad size of 25, this means that at least 8 players have to be considered ‘homegrown.’ To provide some context on what constitutes ‘home-grown,’ means players, regardless of their nationality who have been trained by clubs in either England or Wales for at least 3 years between the ages of 15 and 21. This doesn’t not automatically limit these players to being either English or Welsh, however it does mean that the majority of these ‘home-grown’ players tend to be either one of these nationalities.
At the start of each Premier league season each club publishes a squad list, indicating which players are HGP. Below is Chelsea’s, and as you can see, players like Lukaku and Christensen are considered HPG even though they are not English or Welsh. Lukaku signed at the age of 18 and Christensen at 15, both met the requirement of being at the club for at least 3 years before their 21st birthday’s.
Marcos Alonso Mendoza
Kepa Arrizabalaga Revuelta
Cesar Azpilicueta Tanco
Lewis Renard Baker HGP
Ross Barkley HGP
Marcus Bettinelli HGP
Trevoh Tom Chalobah HGP
Benjamin James Chilwell HGP
Andreas Bodtker Christensen HGP
Thiago Emiliano Da Silva
Kai Lukas Havertz
Reece James HGP
Frello Filho Jorge Luiz
Ngolo Kante
Mateo Kovacic
Ruben Loftus Cheek HGP
Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli HGP
Edouard Osoque Mendy
Mason Mount HGP
Saul Niguez Esclapez
Christian Mate Pulisic
Antonio Rudiger
Malang Mamadou William Sarr
Timo Werner
Hakim Ziyech
Clubs are always diligently researching players to see if they are considered HGP, as with N-HGP being such a finite commodity it is imperative that the club strike a good balance when it comes to player recruitment. With players who are considered as already established and being first team quality are the most sort after. This means that generally for clubs to sign HGP it will come at a premium.
More recently, we have seen clubs sign third choice HG keepers as a cheap way to ensure they hit the quota. Lee Grant moved from Stoke City to Manchester United in 2018 for £1.53m. Aged 35 when Grant signed for United, it was never anticipated that he would play much football at all for Manchester United, and this proved true, in 4 years at the club he has only played a total of 2 games.
Most Expensive English Transfers
Andy Carroll (£35m to Liverpool) and Danny Drinkwater (£35m to Chelsea)
Kyle Walker (£45m to Manchester City)
John Stones (£47.5m to Manchester City)
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£49m to Manchester United)
Raheem Sterling (£49m to Manchester City)
Ben Chilwell (£45m to Chelsea)
Ben White (£50m to Arsenal)
Jadon Sancho (£72.9m to Manchester United)
Harry Maguire (£78m to Manchester United)
Jack Grealish (£100m to Manchester City)
Taking a look at some of the most expensive transfer fees paid for English players it is blatant that some of these transfers could be considered as poor value for money. Andy Carroll’s move to Liverpool, for then a record transfer fee for a British player, proved a massive failure. The injury-prone striker, who now plies his trade for West Brom, managed only 11 goals in 58 appearances during his three years at Liverpool. The only ‘saving grace’ during that window for the club was the acquisition of Luis Suárez, who moved from Ajax to Liverpool for £23m. The Uruguayan went on to tear the Premier league up, playing 110 games and produced a total goal involvement of 108 goals and assists. Following 3 years in Liverpool Suárez was sold to Barcelona for £73m.
Obviously it is extremely difficult to predict the impact that players will have. So why are clubs inclined to spend so much on English players when bringing players in from abroad can be both cheaper and potentially produce better results?
When you sign foreign players, particularly individuals who lack an understanding of the English language and culture, may find it difficult to adapt to living and playing in the Premier league. For clubs it can be seen as a safer option to recruit players who already play in the same domestic league. For context, 99% of all English players ply their trade on British shores, this is down to a few factors:
Firstly the Premier league is the richest league in the world so players can command greater contracts. Even for a player that could be regarded as average, they would potentially receive double or triple the salary in the Premier league than, say, the Spanish or French leagues.
Although more recently we have seen some English players move abroad, generally the consensus has been to stay in the country. Historically players like Beckham, Owen, Hargeaves and Keegan have played abroad and more recently Abraham, Tomori, Sancho but these players represent only 0.01% of all English players. For the majority of players moving abroad is a risk, in terms of adapting to a new culture, whether it is suited for their families and whether they have the potential to make the same kind of money as they could back home.
Many European clubs are priced out from buying English players, bar a few select top teams.
Foreign players generally have to have a work permit to join English clubs. Usually this is easier to obtain if the player plays regular football for their respective International team. However this is an additional barrier for most players.
One of the largest factors why English players are so expensive is because they are mainly congregated within the same league system. This creates two barriers; firstly clubs are much more likely to be purchasing from their rivals (that may be a geographical rivalry or clubs that are directly fighting for league positions) and secondly, due to the wealth that is present in the league it forces clubs to offer higher fees to pry players away from clubs. Premier league clubs receive an absorbent amount of money from television revenue (about £1.5b across the 20 clubs) and therefore are not financially motivated to sell their players. Allowing them to essentially set their own price for which they are willing to sell their players for. This usually results in clubs paying over the odds for players.
The last major factor in the pricing of English players is the result of the media’s influence on football. As the Premier league is the most watches league in the world, players domestically based are 'hyped up’ more so than players playing abroad. This adds to the value of English players as they are able to marketed more and have the potential to become greater revenue streams for clubs. The top four clubs in England (Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea) sold a combined 6.79 million shirts in 2021. In the same season, Manchester City’s Jack Grealish football shirts were the second highest quantity sold, for an individual player, in the league whilst Kevin De Bruyne came in at 9th. This is down to Grealish being a new acquisition for the club (KDB has been at the club for 7 seasons) but also it is down to Grealish being one of the most recognisable English players in world football. The club capitalises on this world-wide awareness of Grealish, which is mainly down to the British media promoting the player, through shirt sales, endorsements and ticket sales.
For the majority of European clubs, it is not financially efficient to purchase English players due to them commanding these higher transfer fees. They do not have the additional incentives, that British clubs do, to pay more for these kinds of players.
For the time being, and for the foreseeable future, there will be always be a premium for English players.