Premier League CEO says Brexit contributed to record January spending

The Premier League’s chief executive, Richard Masters, believes the visa system introduced by the Football Association after Brexit contributed to the record £815m spent by Premier League clubs during the January transfer window and has called for it to be “tweaked”.

The points-based government body endorsement (GBE) system that came into force on 1 January 2021 prevents English clubs from signing foreign players until they are 18. But Masters, despite acknowledging it was introduced in an attempt to increase the number of England-qualified players in the Premier League, insisted that the regulations meant clubs had been forced to pay a premium to sign the best emerging stars.

“We think it needs a bit of a tweak because it’s a very tight system that is much tighter than other sports in this country,” Masters told the FT’s Business of Football Summit. “While we’re totally committed to developing young, homegrown players and we want Gareth Southgate to be successful, when you have a limited supply of players you can go for and you’ve got lots of demand, then it’s slightly inflationary. That’s certainly not the only reason why lots of money and records are being broken in the Premier League transfer window but it’s a contributing factor.

“We have generated an earned advantage over our European competitors and a lot of that earned advantage goes to those European competitors in transfer fees for players that we can no longer buy at a younger age. It’s partially to do with the GBE system.”

Chelsea’s outlay of more than £300m on players in January doubled the previous record and took their spending to more than £600m under their American owners. Masters hinted the Premier League would be watching carefully to ensure they