Wenger fears new rules impact

Wenger: Hopes new rules are not implemented

What can we do? We can only pray that somebody next to London Colney is as gifted as Maradona and says, 'Please can I play for you'.

Arsene Wenger
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Arsene Wenger fears it will be 'impossible' to continue his current youth policy at Arsenal if new rules regarding home-grown players are implemented.

During his time in charge of the Gunners, Wenger has made bringing through gifted youngsters from both home and abroad an art form, but he feels his plans for the future are being threatened.

From next season, the Premier League are to introduce a ruling that eight members of a 25-man squad must be home-grown, while the Football Association also have the 90-minute-from-home regulation.

Fifa and Uefa are also keen to restrict the movement between countries of players under the age of 18, leaving Wenger concerned it will drastically alter his youth policy.

Disadvantages

"It will make that policy virtually impossible," said Wenger. "If you cannot add any players under 18, and you have the home-grown rule, and on top of that English clubs are limited to bringing in young players who live less than 90 minutes from the training ground, how can we produce home-grown players?

"Personally, I don't know. So it's vital that this under-18 transfer rule is not implemented because English clubs would have a domestic limitation and a foreign limitation, making it harder to produce home-grown players.

"In England we accumulate disadvantages. We cannot buy [an academy player] outside our 90-minute radius.

"So already we cannot take a player from Manchester or Southampton. We cannot take a player from Asia, North or South America, Africa.

"What can we do? We can only pray that somebody next to London Colney is as gifted as Maradona and says, 'Please can I play for you'.

"We want to be the best league in the world and that is why we have to open the doors to the best players in the world.

"The first signs, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka going to Spain, are not very good for us. You have to accept that the best have to play with the best."