Study: Clubs neglecting homegrown players
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GENEVA (AP)
A study of 534 top-tier European football clubs says more foreign players are being used, causing homegrown youngsters to be neglected.
A typical club now averages more than eight expatriates, including one Brazilian each, among 24.5 contracted first-team players, according to Swiss University of Neuchatel research collected in October.
Squads averaged fewer players aged 21 or under and fewer players trained by the club than last year, the annual census says.
Nearly half of top-tier players across 36 countries have transferred internationally at least once.
The 20 Premier League clubs had 320 non-English first-team players.
European champion Inter Milan gave 99.8 percent of playing time to non-Italians during the survey period.
