According to this report there is a possibility of Saints forming a partnership with the Swiss second-tier side Servette: http://www.insidefutbol.com/2014/09...ship-with-servette-could-be-on-cards/163636/? Apparently the idea is that some of our Academy players would be loaned to the Swiss club to gain experience and help Servette get promoted, while Saints would have first refusal on any Servette players who met our standards. Not sure what to think of this, any thoughts?
I thought we already shipped our unwanted players off to Liverpool and Arsenal to gain experience - so this would be redundant surely?
Just a thought, but could having a Swiss club as a partner help us with work permit regulations for signings outside of the EU?
Yes, and I imagine (if this partnership was made) that this would be the category of youngster we would be loaning out. Our academy's catchment becomes worldwide.
Switzerland are in EFTA so they have the same immigration policy as EU countries, so I don't think work permits will be much of an issue.
Isn't it more to do with the short length of time it takes to get Swiss nationality? Takes a shorter time to get a Swiss passport which then grants EU working rights.
I wonder whether it will benefit some of the much younger players. I imagine the league is less physical and more technical than for example, league 1. Whilst we would want central defenders and certain midfielders to get used to that (see Turnbull and Stevens at Swindon), younger wing players like Sims and Rowe would just get pummeled in L1. I wonder if that is the use they had in mind or whether it is a work permit thing as mentioned above
