Four years after the British vote, Brexit is effective.
The UK has left the single European market and the customs union.
As a result, the Premier League, the rich English football league, is no longer in the market for free movement.
A situation with serious consequences for French football and its players.
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The UK left the European single market and customs union, four years after the Brexit vote.
The consequences are numerous for the British and European economy.
Especially for the French football championship.
The wealthy English Premier League has indeed just left the market for free movement.
It will therefore no longer be able to recruit Ligue 1 players so easily. To hope to play in England, footballers will now have to be of legal age and complete a sort of work permit with points, which will take into account the attractiveness of the player according to several criteria: the FIFA ranking of its selection, its matches played in the European Cup ...
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For stars like Kylian Mbappé, Neymar or Memphis Depay, no problem in sight.
On the other hand for the other players, it will be almost impossible mission.
A situation that does not suit the French clubs, dependent on these lucrative transfers to the United Kingdom.
"The players, playing in clubs that are not necessarily upscale, which are not international and which have not played in the European Cup, cannot be sold in England and therefore bring money to their French clubs", explains Pierre Rondeau, sports economist.
A possible exemption, exceptionally
"Before Brexit, they could hope to sell one of their player to a small English club for 5, 10, 15 million euros", continues the specialist.
With this reform, midfielder Ngolo Kanté, who played for Caen in 2015, could not have signed for Leicester.
Ditto for Paul Pogba, a minor at the time of his engagement with Manchester United.
A derogation will always be possible, but on an exceptional basis.
Brexit comes at the worst time for the French league, after the Mediapro fiasco and the clubs' loss of 800 million euros due to the Covid-19 health crisis.