This is not a politcal thread Of the main squad, Fulham currently have 6 EU players plus the manager and 1 non-EU player on the books. The non-person (Tim Ream) won't be affected. The EU chaps however, at least in theory, will have to apply for work permits. In reality though there's likely to be some sort of amnesty for those already employed and it's a very slim chance that any of our lads will be deported! [Nikolay Bodurov anyone?] But what about new players? Free movement under Bosman no longer applies. And applying for a visa/work permit may follow along the fairly complex rules already in place for non-EU players. The main bug-bear being the time this can take to resolve/the player to qualify. The biggest challenge however, is the slump in the £. We'll be disadvantaged not just in relation to fees but also wages when going after foreign players. As will all clubs which, arguably will push up the price of British born players. To be honest, the simple answer is that, nobody knows how things will pan out and what requirement the Government may impose. Except for that point about the £. It's a pretty good chance that the £s uncertaintity will last for a fair while and most probably beyond the transfer window which officially opens in a week's time. That has to be a concern for a club like Fulham - in terms of our transfer kitty, which appears limited, and also our way of doing business, which in the recent past is based on going in under market value.
I'm not sure that any rule changes concerning free movement, work permits, etc. are going to be in place for the coming season, possibly not even the one after. The vote to leave will undoubtedly have a longer term impact one way or another - and who knows if it will be a positive or negative one? - but I don't think it will affect anything just yet. Unless, of course, some foreign players decide that Britain might not be a welcoming environment to bring their families and are less willing to make the move.
From what I've heard the biggest challenge is exchange rates..Players expectations and transfer fees will be about 8% more currently so I guess that will have an impact
Guess most of us have been wondering about first team players. However there will definitely be an impact on the Academy; we won't any longer be able to recruit 16 to 18 year olds from the EU countries. May not be a bad thing though that much more concentration will be on developing young English players.
