Premier League: When native players are being overlooked

24/09/2025 15:07:00 GoalGuru

The Premier League is becoming increasingly globalized, and as a natural consequence, the top clubs in England are neglecting local players.

Liverpool leads the Premier League and is 5 points ahead of Arsenal. As the defending champions, it is reasonable to describe them as the strongest team in England at present. Yet, the noteworthy point is that the top English club tends to use very few homegrown players.

From Liverpool to smaller Premier League clubs

So far, manager Arne Slot’s title defense has been built on a starting lineup with no English players. Alisson Becker (Brazil) is the first-choice goalkeeper, with a defensive line of Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands), Ibrahima Konaté (France), Milos Kerkez (Hungary), and either Jeremie Frimpong (Netherlands) or Conor Bradley (Northern Ireland).

Liverpool’s attack against Everton (September 20) included Ryan Gravenberch (Netherlands), Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina), Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Dominik Szoboszlai (Hungary), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), and Hugo Ekitike (France). In the near future, Alexander Isak (Sweden) and Florian Wirtz (Germany) are likely to break into the starting eleven.

Notably, when Liverpool faced Atletico Madrid in the Champions League (September 18), manager Arne Slot made a striking decision: no English players were named in the starting lineup. According to Opta Joe, this was Liverpool’s 418th European cup match, but the first time they started without a single English player. Four English players—Freddie Woodman, Joe Gomez, Rio Ngumoha, and Jayden Danns—were on the bench, but none featured in the starting eleven. Despite the absence of English players, the United Kingdom was still represented by left-back Andrew Robertson from Scotland. Additionally, four Dutch players started: Jeremie Frimpong, Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, and Cody Gakpo.

Most dominant Premier League teams over the past 25 years have relied heavily on foreign players but maintained a core of Englishmen: Adams, Parlour, and Cole at Arsenal; Terry, Lampard, and Cole at Chelsea; Rooney, Neville, and Carrick at Manchester United; Walker, Stones, and Sterling at Manchester City. Currently at Liverpool, who can carry on this tradition? Joe Gomez, Curtis Jones, and Rio Ngumoha are the three English players involved in the Merseyside derby, but all remained on the bench. Their chances of securing a starting spot remain slim, despite Jones having started the full 90 minutes in the August match against Newcastle.

Liverpool is not unique in favoring foreign players. On average, only 2.7 English players start per team across the league. Sunderland and Wolves resemble Liverpool, each having used just one English player from the season’s start, averaging 0.2 English starters per match. In contrast, Everton leads with 32 English player starts out of a possible 55 slots over five matches (6.4 English players per game). Newcastle follows with 31 English player starts in five games. These two clubs are among the rare sides currently fielding mostly English starting lineups.

Liverpool’s habit of rarely using native players

The Premier League’s global trend

The Times published a notable statistic: "Half of Bournemouth’s new defenders (Bafode Diakite and Adrien Truffert), Crystal Palace’s replacement for Eberechi Eze (Yeremy Pino), and many hopefuls at Sunderland—including eight players in their most recent starting lineup—were all recruited from abroad during the summer."

This picture contrasts with Europe. Bayern Munich, Bundesliga champions, average 5 German players per match; PSG fields 4.3 French players per game; Barcelona, reigning La Liga champions, have 7.4 Spanish players per match. Clearly, this is not an ideal scenario for Thomas Tuchel. Any England national team coach would want the best players regularly competing in key matches under top managers. This trend is not limited to Liverpool: due to Phil Foden’s injury, the latest England squad included only one player from Liverpool, Manchester United, and Manchester City combined — goalkeeper James Trafford of Man City, who now serves as a backup to Gianluigi Donnarumma.

With the 2026 World Cup approaching, coach Tuchel naturally hopes English players get as much club playing time as possible. There is an argument that homegrown players help forge a connection with fans, although Liverpool supporters likely care less given their general indifference toward the England team. Manchester United fans also put "club first," but their consistent academy graduates in the squad help maintain English player presence.

More notably for Liverpool is the absence of local players since Trent Alexander-Arnold’s transfer to Real Madrid. Previously, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher were always present to help newcomers understand the club culture. Now, only Curtis Jones remains in the starting lineup. Of course, fans can bond with players born elsewhere, especially in the age of social media shrinking distances. Yet it is undeniable that the Premier League is becoming increasingly globalized.

This league no longer primarily serves English interests—from shirt sponsors and kickoff times to dozens of post-match interviews for international media. In this context, it’s hardly surprising that top clubs overlook English players.

Comment (0)