Brexit. The word has been used so much that SEO on websites must be greener than green. It will change the recruitment strategy of clubs a lot. In this article I will look at the changes this will give British clubs in looking at European players on mainland Europe and how this will affect how Dutch clubs will recruit in their own country.
After reading this piece on The Athletic by Philip Buckingham, I started to wonder what the effects will be for British clubs going forward. They can’t just simply sign anyone anymore from Europe and if they want to sign players from Portugal, The Netherlands and Belgium (for example), the players have to meet certain criteria.
The FA states the following:
“Post Brexit, clubs will not be able to sign players freely from the EU. Players from EU countries who want to play in the Premier League or EFL will be required to gain a GBE, like all other overseas players without the right to work in the UK.
The GBE will operate a points-based system, where points are scored for senior and talented young players based on:
• Senior and youth international appearances
• Quality of the selling club, based on the league they are in, league position and progression in continental competition
• Club appearances, based on domestic league and continental competition minutes
Players accumulating the requisite amount of points will earn a GBE automatically, while players just below the threshold may be considered for a GBE by an Exceptions Panel.“
The Football’s Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) will have an impact on players wanting to coming to the Premier League or EFL or the clubs that want to recruit them. Furthermore, the British clubs can’t sign a player earlier than his 18th birthday and the number of U21 players signed in a transferwindow is limited (three in january 2021, six in the windows to come).
This means that it will become more difficult for a majority of the players in the Dutch professional leagues, to get recruited by clubs inside the UK. Obviously this means a change in a lot of things, but it can provide some positives for the Dutch clubs.
What positives can we see in this turning point?
Looking at it with a Dutch club’s perspective, this means that many players are more approachable. In reality, clubs could scout and try to recruit in their own country, but players have become too expensive. In what way? If clubs in England, Wales and Scotland are looking for talent in the 2nd tier – their value goes up. That’s the way it goes. If a top 2nd tier club or Eredivisie club wants to recruit them, they have to paint a scenario that’s brighter or better than that of the clubs from the British Isle – very hard to do.
With the British clubs out of the way of recruiting in the 2nd tier or in some cases, the Eredivisie – it could provide an opportunity for top table Eredivisie clubs to recruit in the 2nd tier. You could take more time look at the players and judge them in the same culture as your club is acting in.
There’s the thing of other countries obviously. There are big clubs in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Poland who also love to look to talent in the Netherlands. They operate within the EU and can still recruit in the same way as before – the competition has just become less in numbers.
What has to change in wages?
To become more attractive to talents/players and their agents, the clubs have to change one crucial thing: the wages. This is not simply changed obviously. There is next to no money left for clubs to spend extra on wages and the league does not provide the vast amount of money the big 5 leagues have to offer.
Players from the Championnat National in France do make more money in wages than the average player in the Eredivisie – so that has to change in order to be more appealing to the players in terms of wages. There has to change something structural to be able to compete with the aforementioned leagues – otherwise the players will choose to go abroad and play for non-Dutch teams.
It’s still hard to recruit the toptalents in the 2nd tier, but the chance of signing a player has become slightly bigger with Brexit.
