Hill-Wood defends Wenger’s foreigners

ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger has been given the green light by chairman Peter Hill-Wood to continue fielding overseas line-ups.

An all-foreign squad could be employed again in this weekend’s FA Cup fifth-round tie against Sheffield United if Ashley Cole is rested or does not recover from illness in time.

Thierry Henry should certainly be included - having insisted he is not ready for a break, even with the Champions League tie against Bayern Munich just four days later.

Henry said: “I’m looking to go out and play. I had some trouble finishing at the end of the year because I was tired - and with all the games I play, it’s not always easy. But I feel fresher and I’m back to scoring goals now.”

While it remains to be seen whether Cole will appear - Campbell and Justin Hoyte are both likely to be still missing through injury.

Their absences ensured Wenger’s 16-man squad against Palace featured no British players, prompting former Arsenal winger Paul Merson to describe the move as a “disgrace.”

But the Arsenal boss - who insists he looks only at “the qualities of players, not their passports” - yesterday received the backing of his chairman.

Hill-Wood, an Old Etonian traditionalist at heart, said: “I don’t mind as long as the team plays the right sort of football. We are in times now when people have to adjust their thinking.

“For me, the nationality of any player who plays for the club is not an issue. If you are good enough it does not matter where you come from.

“The world of football is changing, and there are some people who don’t like things to change. You should not forget the huge impact one player has had in changing the club and helping us to a higher level - and that is Dennis Bergkamp, a Dutchman.”

Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein has still been criticised by players’ union boss Gordon Taylor for opposing UEFA’s new quota system on home-grown players for the Champions League and the UEFA Cup.

This will require clubs to field four home-grown players in European competitions from 2006-07, rising to eight by 2008-09.

At least half will have to come through Arsenal’s academy for three years between 16 and 21, and the rest from another English club’s academy.

But the plan does not require those players to be English or even British, for fear of a Bosman-style challenge in the European courts.

Arsenal are therefore unlikely to be affected because the likes of Spaniard Cesc Fabregas, Dutchman Quincy Owusu-Abeyie and Italian Arturo Lupoli are all being brought through the youth system from a young age.

Clubs which flout the quotas would have their 25-man squads reduced for European competition - rather than risk being barred from taking part.

UEFA head of communications William Gaillard said: “The aim of the proposals is to strengthen the football academies of the clubs and to create a link between the clubs and the community where they grew up.

“The sanction is simple - if you don’t have the four and four for 2008-09, your squad will be cut by the number of players who do not meet the criteria. If you have only four home-grown players instead of eight you will have a squad of 21.”