FA wants English kids to replace ‘mediocre’ overseas players

Mediocre players from overseas are taking places in club squads that should be going to young English players, Football Association chairman Greg Dyke has claimed.

The FA has announced proposals to cut the number of players from outside the European Union coming into the English game by up to 50 per cent, including banning clubs sending such players out on loan, preventing Football League clubs from signing them and making the appeals process much tougher.

Some 122 overseas players were granted visas between 2009 and 2013, 23 of them in the Football League.