For years we all wondered if Brexit would have a major impact on football in Britain, and it finally looks like it could have a huge impact on youth teams.
There’s plenty of irony in seeing reactions from fans down south as they claim that “yes we did vote to keep those pesky foreign kids out, but we didn’t mean the ones that were talented enough to play for my favourite football team.”
The reality is that all British clubs won’t be able to sign any U18 players from the EU once it all becomes official, so there is a worry that this could be bad news for kids in Celtic’s youth system.
Premier League clubs have never hidden their desire to stockpile as many kids as possible in the hope that a few make the breakthrough and become stars.
READ MORE: Celtic’s defensive crisis could be solved as summer target available for less than his £10.8m release clause
It’s just one giant lottery where you have more chance of success if you have more players on the books, so they will continue to sign up as many talented youngsters as they can.
Celtic have suffered in recent years with some young talents leaving for Germany, but it’s likely that there will be some tempting offers from Premier League clubs now.
It’s also worth noting that Billy Gilmour left the Rangers as a kid and now looks to be on the verge of breaking through at Stamford Bridge, so that will offer encouragement to players and potential buyers that it’s worth making the move at such a young age.
On the flip side there will also be a requirement for EU players to obtain a work permit before moving to play in the Premier League, so that does suggest that senior players in Scotland will have more chances to move and bigger fees could be sought in return.
It will seriously condense the market at senior and youth level for British clubs so time will tell if it helps or hinders Celtic, but they could also be forced to give more first team chances to the young players.
If we want them to stay then we need to give them a reason to remain at the club and indicate that there is a clear pathway to the first team, so it’s a delicate situation that needs to be managed properly.
