Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants work permits for foreign footballers to be scrapped, DailyMail reports.
The Frenchman, who revealed he missed out on bringing Angel di Maria to the club nine years ago due to employment red tape, says the UK’s football authorities should open its borders to all overseas players, not just those who qualify for the necessary paperwork.
Arsenal are poised to sign Villarreal’s Gabriel Paulista, who has a £15million release clause. But the transfer is reliant on the Brazilian obtaining a work permit, which will not be a foregone conclusion given the central defender has not played international football.
Rules state that only players who have played 75 per cent of matches for a nation inside FIFA’s top 70 within the past two years are eligible for work permits. This is to safeguard the progress of academy players into first teams. Arsenal say they will appeal if Paulista cannot join them this month.
Next season new rules will see players who cost £10m and over automatically granted a work permit. But Wenger says all work permit regulations should be abandoned, claiming it would help produce more accomplished youngsters.
‘The target of the Premier League is to be the best League in the world,’ said Wenger. ‘So you have to open it completely.
‘We identified Di Maria when he was 17. We wanted him to come here, but he goes to Portugal, from Portugal he goes to Spain. Why? Because he could not get a work permit here. That means you can only get him to England once he is worth a huge amount of money.’
