The competition as we know it today, which is by far the most popular football league competition in the world, was a direct result of globalisation, the current political moment in Europe and Great Britain in the 90s, and the united European market, that is, the free movement of people and goods within the EU.
The Premier League, the most elite club competition in England and the richest football league in the world, has always been open to the inflow of foreign money.
Most of the Premier League’s most important clubs, out of 20, are owned by Arab, Russian, Chinese, American and Thai super-rich.
The English Premier League was also open to foreign coaches such as the Frenchman Arsene Wenger, the Portuguese Jose Mourinho, the Spanish Pep Guardiola or the German Jurgen Klopp, who completely revolutionized the football style and approach to the game in this country.
The most important thing is that the Premier League was and is completely open to foreign players.
At the end of every transfer window, the teams must provide a squad list with the names of all the players who will play for the club that season.
Every team is allowed to register up to 25 players; 17 of them can be foreign players.
The other eight players must be “homegrown players”, and of course, teams may change these lists during the season as they buy and sell players. “Homegrown player” doesn’t mean that he must be born in England or Wales, but he must be registered in one of these countries for three seasons before he turns 21.
However, a team might decide not to register 8 “homegrown players”, but the list can be only 22 instead of 25 players. Also, the teams can register as many U21 players as they want.
A team can register up to 17 foreign players in the squad. Those players come from other nations, countries, leagues and clubs. They were not associated with England or Wales, nor were they registered in those countries for three seasons before they turned 21.
In the first Premier League season, there were only 13 players outside of Great Britain, while in the 2022-23 season, there were 371 foreign players.
All players must be registered with a number, changes in the squad can be done only during transfer windows, and the teams are not limited to using foreign or homegrown players in the starting lineup.