Does 'English Tax' Really Exist?

The term 'English tax' has been popularised online, used to express the idea that English footballers are overpriced when compared to their counterparts from other countries.
It's a sentiment that has been around for a while, but one that has been strengthened by Chelsea paying £35 million for Danny Drinkwater, Manchester City paying £100 million for Jack Grealish, and Harry Maguire joining Manchester United for £80 million.
So in this video, HITC Sevens examines whether English players are actually more expensive, whether that is just because they are English, and what might explain the phenomenon if it does exist.

[@yourdadhasadogfilter2505]

English tax doesn't really apply to the top players. It's mediocre/slightly above average players who cost relatively silly money

[@razerow3391]

Morgan Gibbs White cost more than Neves, Moutinho and Rui Patricio cost Wolves combined

[@fpldirectory6753]

@@razerow3391 I'd suggest his re-sell value will also be more than that of those 3 players combined too tho bud!

[@Shambles7698]

Jack grealish, harry Maguire, 😭😭

[@rutvikrs]

If this was true, What would Kane or Foden be valued at?

[@dennisaddo2609]

I could say the same about the bundesliga tax.

[@nicoj9984]

In Germany, the term 'English Tax' doesn't refer to English players per se but rather to English clubs and their habbit of grossly overspending on players, even mediocre or slightly above average ones - no matter what nationality. A player, that would move within the Bundesliga or to another continental league for 10-20M is suddenly 'worth' 30-50M as soon as he's beeing sold to an English club. The only reason why someone might think that the 'English Tax' applies (disproportionally) to English players is that most of them, like their peers from Germany, Spain or Italy, start their carreers at home and that they - again like most of their peers from other countries - mainly transfer within their own country/league. That means that the 'English Tax' is inflating their value/transfer fees from day one and not only after an English club wants to sign them at some point.

[@bernhardsonn8996]

True

[@bernhardsonn8996]

👍🏻exactly

[@empirelee7676]

Short comment which makes a better job than the video

[@CanadianTheGreat1]

German English tax is better

[@CoimbraBertone]

I think the Premier League tax thing hits the nail on the head - because it's not just English players, it's transfers involving English clubs that always inflate the values. I mean, I'm sure we've all had players in football manager that have been sold into England and suddenly they're worth like $15 million more than they were before.

[@lukasbosina301]

With my friends here in Germany we have been joking that whenever a football manager on the continent sees an English phone number he immediately triples the number if asked for the price for one of his players.

[@cmenomore8119]

@@lukasbosina301 That's how it works... and well it works they really pay the asked prices. Nottingham paid 20mio for Awoniyi. Newcastle 70mio for Isak. Manchester 100mio for Anthony. They pay evey price no matter how absuredly overpriced the price tag is it's hilarious.

[@Zombie1Boy]

Part of the valuation comes from the larger pay packet premier teams tend to offer.

[@tomspreadbury2915]

@@cmenomore8119 17,53 and 82mil actually but point still stands

[@cmenomore8119]

@@tomspreadbury2915 I guess you just calculate in £ while i did in €

[@leandrocataldi5747]

Grealish being valued more than chiesa is a good example, Mount more than barella ecc

[@patogames5099]

That's the "EPL tax" though. As explained in the vid, EPL clubs can hold out for more money, as they make more money. They're not as dependent on player sales for revenue. Forest spent roughly £150m after being promoted. Fulham did something similar couple seasons ago. That's more than most established Serie A sides would spend in a decade. Chelsea can say "Mount is worth £110m...", even if he's "not", as they don't need to sell him for revenue, and therefore can price him out of the market.

[@007Fusiion]

It’ll be interesting to see how the next five years go for all their careers.

[@Henko13]

@@patogames5099 that is a stupid Argument i you become a millionaire tomorrow are you going to pay twice as much for your gasoline just because you have the money to do so?

[@patogames5099]

@@Henko13 label an argument stupid, and then produce a supply and demand argument that proves my point. Gas (as in LPG) - is an abundance vs how many cars run on it, also has a cheaper production cost, so it is cheaper Petrol - the most common fuel source for vehicles, is in (pending on your country currently) ample supply, along with there being multiple outlets for the same product. And diesel is more expensive due to production vs demand. (That is a very watered down version, so you'll understand) Now, aviation fuel, is a very specific type of fuel, requiring a very specific production process, for a very specific use. Majority of people own a car, very few own a jet/plane. If I became a millionaire over night, and could now afford a jet, then yes, I would pay more for fuel. If I stayed iny car, despite my wealth, I would pay for fuel, same price as everyone else. Just like, wealthy owners that are in the other top leagues, or the Championship - all mentioned in the video. Transfer fees between EPL teams, are higher than other intra-league transfers, as the clubs are richer, so they don't need to sell their own players. A lot of clubs in other leagues rely on player sales to balance their books. They don't have the same revenue stream as EPL teams. Therefore, they sell at a lower price - typically - as they reach their reserve price sooner. So, before labelling someone's arguement stupid, maybe make sure you're educated enough to understand it in the 1st place. Just a tip for life, and business, more so than for words on KZbin.

[@patogames5099]

@@007Fusiion well, currently Mount has a Champions League winner medal, and the others haven't even been to a final. Barella and Chiesa have Euro medal that Mount and Grealish don't. With Chiellini and Bonucci aging though, and no one of that same level to replace them, it's unlikely they will have the same success at WC. Mount and Grealish, however, at club level, especially Grealish, would have a more realistic chance of adding to domestice and EU trophies, than Nico and Enrico. So, "how their careers turn out" will be very subjective, as to what defines a good/great career/player.

[@OJViews]

Yes, English players are more likely to stay within the league climbing clubs than travel abroad. their excess value is only for competitive purposes. Sterling to Chelsea can directly influence Man Citys prospects a lot in the league compared to Sterling going Barca.

[@debayanbhunia7084]

Just follow Bellingham's transfer you will see a club pay at least 80 million

[@madsnn4222]

thats not what the english tax is..

[@PrehistoricPro]

@@madsnn4222 Haven't watched the video, have you buddy?

[@colourfulldreams607]

No Club except of premier league would buy player from midtable over 70 million

[@OJViews]

@@debayanbhunia7084 yeah, I already see that happen long way away if Man U is behind it. Liverpool will punch for 50/60 with a bunch of add ons. The main idea is to look at the players future on a national front. Who's gonna be the next Harry Kane? Not necessarily being the captain but will be viewed to be the most important if not best of that country. You see that with Pedri and Gavi in Spain, Mbappe in France, most German players affinity with Bayern Munich or at least in top leagues. The best has to be home regardless of team and that will command a premium not matter how stupid.

[@MithrandilPlays]

W thumbnail LMAOO

[@DanicaCidosa]

it's not just about price tag, it's about quality to reflect the price tag.. so yes, it does exists, some english players move within the PL for more than they're actually worth

[@kh7688]

Facts on top of facts. My comment is the lengthy one at the top of this comments section, have a read when you get the chance. I expound on this very point you raised.

[@jordan_roadhouse4798]

Yeah it's not hard to understand, it's the value that player brings to the club.

[@DanicaCidosa]

​@@jordan_roadhouse4798 nah, just laziness

[@ektran4205]

aston villa just over evaluated greilish's worth

[@giteausuperstar]

Not sure what the conclusion is going to be but this is definitely a thing. E.g. Gibbs-White for £42.5m Edit: regarding English players not being over represented, true, but I think the matter is that English players who sell for 40-50m often aren’t actually top quality. Whereas if you spend 40-50m on a player in Italy, Spain, France etc you are getting a top class player (most of the time)

[@richardmatthias6098]

Gibbs-White's fee is listed as 29m on transfermarkt, which is less than Guedes, Nunes, Silva or Semedo. Typical English media reporting overblown fees just like when they said Dele Alli was 40m when it was actually 0.

[@JasonWilliams89]

This claim was retorted in the video

[@petesmart1983]

Gibbs white couldn't break into the wolves team and unproven in the prem , really over paid for him

[@w2l709]

If you look at the top transfers there's still plenty who haven't lived up to anything like their price tag: Coutinho, Felix, Lukaku (twice), Hazard, Pogba, Griezmann, Pepe, Havertz etc. And Gibbs White went for £25m

[@choughed3072]

Yes there is and it was caused by Chelsea fielding a whole team in the early 2000s made entirely of non English players and the FA were pissed about it.

[@fjnemo]

Other leagues have regulations similar or more strict than England where you have to have a certain number of homegrown players but it didn't cause their players' value to go up

[@rohithraman6488]

@TheMythicCat He wasn't there at the time, it was actually December 1999, Southampton vs Chelsea, here was the XI: Ed de Goey (Netherlands) Albert Ferrer (Spain) Frank Lebeouf (France) Emerson Thome (Brazil) Celestine Babayaro (Nigeria) Didier Deschamps (France) Dan Petrescu (Romania) Roberto Di Matteo (Italy) Gus Poyet (Uruguay) Gabriele Ambrosetti (Italy) Tore Andre Flo (Norway)

[@jamespallister2031]

I’m sure arsenal even had an English free bench in 2007 or 2008 and that’s what brought the home grown rule

[@joehunt390]

Pretty much all leagues have home ground rules etc and you can literally have home grown and club grown players which are not English so doubt it was due to fielding a non English xi!!! Fabregas and bellerin both home/club grown at arsenal Christensen home/club grown at chelsea pogba home/club grown at United im sure there are more but these are just a couple off the top of my head

[@acehighjohn1759]

Watford had 1 English player in their stating XI last night smh! Editing this in....They had 2 players start from D.R Congo!

[@rohithraman6488]

One of the best thumbnails I've seen on this channel

[@Seba-mn1dl]

The thing is that middle class players which EPL clubs want to sell, have no international market, because they sit on huge salaries. So what happens if a club wants to get rid of a player, loan and still pay his salary or a big part of it.

[@acehighjohn1759]

I always understood this to be actually an EPL tax. By this i mean any team selling to an EPL team immediately adds about 25% onto the transferring players asking price whether the player is English or not.....Mostly not tbf!

[@edwinndirangu659]

Nabir Fekir was being speculated to be worth 64 mill when Arsenal and Liverpool were interested. A year later he signed for Betis with about 15 if am not wrong

[@cmenomore8119]

It's actually more something in between 50% to 100%. In the youngest cases of Isak even more than 100% and Anthony even almost 200%

[@mrboast2826]

@@edwinndirangu659 because he injured his knee so his value were dropped massively ....No team wanted him after his medical in Liverpool as he lacks cartilage in his knee something like that

[@imo098765]

Its both, you dont see English players move for large sums because they arent good enough for the amount of money being asked for by the clubs. Media overhype is real

[@SamS-uv2ql]

@@imo098765 Media hype has very little, if anything, to do with how much players are bought and sold for

[@Calvin.K.Langat]

I personally think the “English tax” really became a thing on Twitter when John Stones signed to Man City for 50m. That kind of money for a CB who was also unproven at the time had people confused

[@fpldirectory6753]

Stones was unproven at Barnsley, proved himself at Everton? Big clubs can save a lot of money by cutting out that middle move, but it's definitely not worth the risk. Have the mid level club prove the player and then pay over the odds to bring him in at the top level Over-pay at the time but he was proven as a ball playing CB in the premier league (and has since gone on to show the value)

[@rutvikrs]

Rooney, Ferdinand, Crouch, Sterling, Caroll: 🤔

[@007Fusiion]

Man City has been doing that for awhile, 50-60m is their playground. He wasn’t unproven either, he was getting a starting spot for England and did alright at Everton.

[@sukhdevr3489]

@@fpldirectory6753 He wasn't proven here at all, he had 1 good season in 13/14 and you could see the potential in his future ability but he made many mistakes in the 2 seasons after.

[@fpldirectory6753]

@@sukhdevr3489 1 season is all it takes bud, look at Cucurella now, even Lavia at Southampton was nearly bought after just 3 games! 😅

[@johnjohnstone3565]

The domestic player rule does lead to an inflation in prices for English players to EPL clubs. Kavlin Phillips at 45m, a comparable player could have been bought for 30m but Man City needed more English players in there squad to meet the rules.

[@SamS-uv2ql]

And Phillips was at a club that was extremely wealthy and therefore didn't need to sell.

[@ektran4205]

@@SamS-uv2ql what was leeds evaluation of phillips' worth to leeds

[@liam-398]

2 minutes in and I can establish that regardless of the outcome you've taken the wrong starting point the 'english tax' refers to mediocre players, not the 'top' players but even when we're talking about the top players there is some truth to it. The explanation given is also a pretty logical one : the homegrown rule means that English players of a certain quality are needed to fill out a premier league squad.

[@lennard9331]

I've personally always considered the 'English Tax' to be the general habit of relatively insane transfer fees and wages that are being paid in the Premier League and the Championship rather than the value of English players specifically. English players might feel overpriced in general because they don't tend to move abroad and most players of their own countries in other leagues, even in the top flight, are sold for peanuts comparatively with the exception of the league's star players.

[@TheDarkRaptor]

I hope you do more trivial videos like this. I enjoy it very much when you discuss different football topics.

[@e_o_zoca]

I love that the Portugal foto have a café called A Brasileira in it. Thanks Alfie!!

[@acehighjohn1759]

The quoted £60 million for the young guy from Everton to Chelsea was imo thee most crazy price/tax whatever ever......ever!

[@NostalgiNorden]

If you mean Fofana who is both young and considered a futura superstar it actually fair market value. It's the equalent of United signing Rio Ferdrinand back in the day.

[@SGMiner21]

@@NostalgiNorden no, Antony Gordon, who has done nothing apart from score 3 or 4 goals

[@harrycrompton1017]

@@SGMiner21 it’s not about the value of Gordon it’s the value he brings to Everton who didn’t want or need to sell so pushed the price up

[@SGMiner21]

@@harrycrompton1017 yeah but they sold richarlison for like the same amount, despite being basically the only reason they stayed up last season, would it not have been better for them to sell Gordon and keep Richarlison?

[@harrycrompton1017]

@@SGMiner21 they had to sell before the start of the new football financial year for ffp reasons which is why richarlison went so early in the window because he had to be sold before July 1st there was also far more demand for richarlison so selling for 60mil was easy whereas Gordon isn’t worth that but towards the end of the window Everton didn’t want to sell so just rejected all of Chelsea’s bids

[@SamButler22]

It comes back to your other video about the PL breaking the transfer market, and because that's in England, and English players tend to transfer between English clubs way more often than going abroad.

[@BALHAM69]

a documentary on the afc Wimbledon on the nine promotions in eleven years, how they’re a fan own club and how they have a stadium in plough lane now. The story of they lost the club, how the F A allowed that and won’t allow that anymore. How they were very close to moving to ireland How they went up the English football leagues. It would be a good documentary video if you can do this. #thepeopleschannel

[@kieronparr3403]

We all know the story

[@BALHAM69]

@@kieronparr3403 22:55 true that is why The home grown rule in premier league is the reason relating to his video

[@FozzQuaker]

Still going with AFCW suggestion lol, hope your keeping well

[@Eric_Hunt194]

#JusticeForKingstonian

[@stokepokerchat]

@@kieronparr3403 Bore off will you

[@hermangaitan2759]

As a Nicaraguan fan of yours, love the fact you know of Nicaragua and mentioned it 😊

[@francomartini4328]

Alfie, by describing the English press as a "...rancid, poisonous, malignant and dishonest institution..." (14:55) you took the words right out of my mouth. In all fairness, I would not include the Guardian in the same company as the fascistic Sun, Daily Mail, Daily Express, etc. Too close to the Labour Party they might be but they do a lot of excellent investigative reporting that is appreciated all over the world, particularly the English-speaking world. Just watch how often Guardian journalists are invited on American news channels or how often the paper is cited as a source. Not to mention how often they are a key part of multi-national investigations into money laundering, tax havens, etc., together with such august journals as Der Spiegel, Le Monde, The New York Times and so forth. Furthermore, given that they are as anti-Brexit as I am, they can do no wrong in my eyes.

[@aayushkarnik7166]

I think the English tax exists and English clubs do overvalue their players but what I do believe that the so called “English bias” is a sort of unconscious bias amongst fans which sort of underrates English players to a certain degree compared to foreign players, and also bring on more hate towards them from the same fans who say “English bias” does exist. Huge examples can be seen with the United fanbase. They throw dogs abuse towards English players like Rashford, Shaw, AWB, McTominay, Henderson and especially Maguire. An example which i could refer to was the difference in reaction from the fanbase when Henderson came out with his interview compared to Martial and Bailly. Bailly and Martial were defended and even praised by fans for saying the same sort of things which Henderson said, who instead received abuse from the fanbase.

[@kindmulberry7196]

I'm pretty sure McTominay is Scottish, but I get what you mean

[@timsmith1323]

@@kindmulberry7196 was just going to comment this

[@oolacilesbotnet6564]

@@kindmulberry7196 raised in Manchester tho

[@dylan__dog]

Alfie, can you do a video on how criminally weak the Serbian league and National team is compared to how overrepresented Serbian players are internationally By total number of international players in UEFA competitions, Serbia ranks third or fourth iirc below Brazil, France (ie their football colonies) and Argentina Per capita probably #1, crazy how many players are out there for a relatively small country

[@citizensofdemarcuscousins9318]

The fact that you can pronounce Botswana correctly and know the country am gonna sub to you❤️

[@SeanDJames]

I love the financial examples toward the end of the video a great Segway

[@yamesh6740]

great and insightful video as always alfie

[@leakeice]

Oh wow, I didn't expect Namibia my country to be mentioned in this.🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦🇳🇦

[@citizensofdemarcuscousins9318]

I didn't think so too for Botswana

[@gospellikanyi9156]

Ninja be dissing our country

[@wristbreak]

I think being home grown plays a massive part of why English players go for more. Around 8 or 9 clubs hope to get into Europe each season and they need a certain number of home grown players. Teams don't want to lose players in their squad because they aren't home grown. Home grown players are very valuable. its the reason players like Barkley, RCL, Holding and Mctominay and 35 year old English GKs are or were still around top clubs when they shouldn't be

[@PaulBeenisYourFriend]

9 outta 10 for the mustache in the thumbnail alone

[@vtpooks2166]

Had a random thought on the way to football, how many footballers actually win trophys? you have high profile players Like Kane who havent really won a thing than someone like Ake at city whos won multiple league titles just by being a squad option. How many trophys are won by a small group of players and clubs and how many players go without winning a thing in their career. Might be hard to put in a video form but just a thought I had

[@jtmcgee]

English clubs over pay for english players. I am always amazed at the HUGE premium English clubs pay, its not like teams from outside the PL are competing for most of these players. You have mid table wingers going for 100mil thats rediculous. Personally i think its hillarious the feedback loop with the media, fans and PL teams that inflates the cost of English players for English clubs.

[@jamesip1671]

not really, you need 8 English players in your squad of 25. now tell me how many English players would start in a big teams XI theres probably about 5

[@jordan_roadhouse4798]

When you answer your own question and dont realise it 🤦‍♂️😂

[@ektran4205]

what are the prices that the selling clubs evaluates their prized homegrown talents at

[@Pinkybum]

Grealish going for 100mil was not ridiculous. Kevin DeBruyne rated him as "unplayable." If that fee was ridiculous Aston Villa should have been able to turn that money around and bought say 3 under-valued world class players for about 30mil from somewhere else in the world and now be dominating the Premier League, are they?

[@nickjeffery536]

Having watched the first part of the video, my thoughts (which may be addressed in the rest of the video, admittedly) are that it's not so much a blanket English tax, so much as English clubs having such resources and spending power that they could legitimately make a squad of entirely foreign internationals, but they HAVE to keep some British players due to regulations... as such, part of the reason they potentially overspend on English players is to meet those requirements. As for the global picture, British players haven't always had the greatest reputation with regards to adapting to playing in foreign leagues - this does seem to be changing a bit these days, but it does mean that the biggest, richest foreign clubs are less likely to go after the top-level English players - who, let's face it, will already likely be AT big clubs in England...

[@PrehistoricPro]

Amazing the amount of comments here that amount to "Yes there is an English tax because this term refers to [point already addressed in video]" Who can be arsed to actually watch the entire video before commenting though? Who's got time for that?

[@TheMixCurator]

Guess its predominantly due to the wealth inside the PL that causes that inflated price tag. If you know a club is awash with money, that strengthens your bargaining power when it comes to a club trying to purchase a player of yours. Aren't West Ham generating more income than either Milan clubs? Think that's the main reason. The other reasons are the sports press in this country not knowing anything about football past the white cliffs of Dover and the incessant desire for journalists to build a person up and then knock them down (this is in all facets of UK press).

[@agostinho6550]

one of the biggest things that make them expensive within premiere league is because all clubs must have english players in the squad, there is a limit to foreign players on the squad

[@edwardplatten9220]

Loving the work, Alfie.

[@ModernPracticalStonemason]

I think you’re pretty much spot on here, what about the Scottish players like Andy Robertson, John McGinn who “if they were English” would be subject to much higher fees. This is something that’s always wound me up.

[@007Fusiion]

It’s weird cos they are British too. Now I’m starting to think it’s about the England national team and marketing the country (as well as to the fans).

[@ModernPracticalStonemason]

@@007Fusiion I feel as though England players are massively overrated on games like fifa etc. Where are you from? The Scottish league is by far a lower standard, but we produce some fantastic players. McGinn went from my team (Hibernian) to the Prem for an absolute joke of a price

[@mcorriette1]

@@ModernPracticalStonemason because Scottish teams are poor, has nothing to do With Robertson and McGinn being Scottish but the teams they were sold from

[@glennaldosf]

You literally answered the question in the first two minutes! ;-)

[@jamanger]

as an american, i haven’t thought about an english tax in about 250 years…

[@crs6473]

Lots of money in the premier league and it's beneficial to have home grown players , add the fact that most english players play in England and selling clubs will only sell for a deal that would be considered expensive

[@thegloriouspyrocheems2277]

Day 61 - The Fall and Rise of FK Velež Mostar From a Club that has beaten Borussia Dortmund, Twente, Derby County and many others to a club that was forced from their own stadium, reduced to nothing during the Bosnian War, becoming a mediocre top-level team in the 00s to nearly being forced into folding in 2016 to its amazing comeback to European competitions in 2021 seeing the early exit of Greek giants AEK Athens in a sensational win in Athens!

[@deathofanation7ify]

Only read the title quickly and thought it was a video about premier League players tax avoidance

[@DabDabGoose]

I'm pretty sure it's because of the homegrown player requirement, especially when playing in european competitions, like the other top leagues don't struggle for homegrown talents there is plenty, in the premier league there is alot of money so those players are just naturally worth more, since it's an advantage having your homegrown players being better english players then other teams.

[@WERTYUIO821]

Out of 25 players, you need 8 to have played in England before their 21th birthday and 3 to have played for the club. Anyone below the age of 21 doesn't count for the total. That is high and any club in the Premier League should be able to fulfill it with ease.

[@DabDabGoose]

@@WERTYUIO821 they have to have played in england for 2 years before the age of 21, not just play before the age of 21, considering they can't sign players outside UK before the age of 18 it's not the most easy requirement so they just end up buying players that fit it. It's also not out of 25 players it's they need the 8 players to even qualify with the total squad limit being 25(under 21 don't count). If they don't have the 8 players they must have that's where the buying comes from.

[@footyfactsasmr]

That thumbnail is great!😂😂

[@Strangegloves]

im wiv alfie i think pl tax is a better description as a newcastle fan, we signed kirean trippier one of englands best right backs for 12 million from atletico madrid, yet dan burn a steady but unspectatular cb cost us 13 million from brighton, joe willock cost us at least 20 million....to top it off saint-maximan cost us a mere 16 million from france !!!

[@antonincombrie7720]

how long was the research to this bro. i know a lot of football but not that much from my head haha.

[@RedCruuve]

Asking you to do a video on the rise and fall of Bursaspor, attempt 6

[@josejuliofuego]

I think it’s broader than that and it actually stems through out all of world football. For example on the Western Hemisphere, it appears that Brazilians and argentines are more sought out for than anyone else. Despite someone of a different nationality having better stats. It’s the historically football cultured and successful nations that get the transfers and higher bids

[@RR-ut3xl]

its deffo true on FM, Bougfht Roko Simic for 15 mil, sold him for 40 but his valuation BALLOONED to over 100 mil soon as man u signed him on my ave (he barely played, bought him back for 20 and he became a club legend scoring for fun)

[@Alex-xn2pj]

Day 34: A detailed look at the state of Crotone would be nice, going from Serie A in 20/21 with a 20 goal a season striker to Serie C by 22/23. Two relegations in a row, something surely has to be wrong at that club.

[@ry_jayy]

I always thought it was the other way round. Like Graham Potter once said, being called Graham Potter doesn't sound very glamorous, but if he had a fancy exotic name he'd probably be instantly more highly rated

[@minorcompositions]

It would have been useful to go more into analysing the effect of the homegrown player rules and how they affect transfer fees. Perhaps the so-called ‘English tax’ is actually the ‘Home Grown Player Levy,’ and is only something like 5-15% added on to the transfer fee (i.e. an effect, but not a particularly drastic one). Honestly I’m not sure, just speculating. Would nice to see if that actually pans out in the numbers,

[@arcaine101]

Other leagues also have the homegrown rule, yet their homegrown players arent as overpriced nor overrated as the British.

[@pritapp788]

@@arcaine101 In Italy they are overpriced, though not as much as English footballers.

[@stevphen]

Well that is another reason why actual data based comparison would be useful here. Overall I suspect that it's more what Aflie suggests in the video, that the inflation of transfer prices is due to the dynamics of the Premier League and the money involved overall. And if that is the case would have a interaction between 'player transfer value' that is most affected by the value and cost dynamics of that league, and then on a much smaller level by possible effects of homegrown player rules.

[@SvalbardSleeperDistrict]

I haven't watched this, but that thumbnail is beyond perfection. I'm dying.

[@RyuzakiTaiyou]

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 382) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

[@CouldBeSaladFingers]

382 times? It's not that good of an idea lmao

[@Unknown-od2et]

@@CouldBeSaladFingers how bout you mind your own business

[@yatesy117]

Gundogan, Sane, Klinsmann, Ozil, Ballack, Hamann, Uwe Rosler.....there you go satisfied?

[@rutokelavra819]

of course it does.. its a bit bigger then the spanish one.. just see the record.. there is less then 0.1% English players playing outside England.. and the reason is.. they are not being valued as much as they are at home. well overvalued

[@BantuEconomicServices]

i always thought english tax referred to the price added to selling players to the prem. When the english clubs have to pay more for players than other leagues

[@OfficialFingazMC]

Sign anyone from the Premier league on career mode in fifa 22 and the wages are insane. Especially when you're playing as a team starting in league 2.

[@MOCsMANGA]

"English tax" isn't true, it's more of a "homegrown tax" as the fa require Prem teams to have a certain amount of homegrown players in their squad every season. Brexit also had a huge impact on this as its a lot easier to pay extra to sign a British player from a rival team, than it is to spend less on a foreign player from outside the UK or the eu.

[@kevinengstrom]

that’s what he said yes

[@zizoushifty1483]

Lmao so it's paying extra for a player simply for the fact that he's English right? English tax...

[@jordan_roadhouse4798]

@@zizoushifty1483 Nope.

[@mikemilwall1592]

Dont think it happens to the top players but this is a really great video.

[@jamiedoyle1754]

Alphie what is your opinion on all these postponed fixtures due to the Queens passing.

[@DomenBremecXCVI]

I think that a club with a lot of forigners may pay a higher fee to get a home grown player into their squad.

[@icarusmarioFAN]

I don't know if this is a video you've done yet, but how about an XI of English players playing outside of Britain

[@MiguelDelgado14]

Alfie, can you do a video on what is going on with the Spanish women’s national team? There doesn’t seem to be that much information on it. It could just be gossip but who knows

[@MADSHAM]

It makes sense given homegrown talent requirements. Why buy some semi-decent player from abroad you might not play, when you could buy one that also takes up one of those spaces? And with the added fact that so few English players move abroad, you’re simultaneously weakening your opposition.

[@deanoss777]

thank you for acknowledging the football manager heads

[@paochongloi596]

As a City fan Sancho is really doing well despite United struggling. Especially Gameplay wise than just looking at Statistics. But Grellish on the other hand is just idk what to even say... Just bought for FA rule homegrown player.

[@SonnyK248]

It’s more of a leverage thing. In the Prem the money gets spread around pretty evenly whereas in other leagues the majority of the money goes to the best teams. This means that smaller clubs are under less pressure to sell players on the cheap because they don’t necessarily need ten or fifteen mill. It’s more advantageous for them to keep the player and stay in the division. Also, although not to a great deal, there is a small enforcement on how many English players clubs are supposed to have registered by the time the season starts. So clubs do need to have at least a decent amount of English players on the books so when you deal one away you have to find another one to take his place. So it’s these reasons that the so called English tax makes players more expensive.

[@JiTiAr35]

I LMAO when you showed that pic 1:11 🤣

[@darrelldadams]

As an FM player ( and an American) , I never thought the "English tax: was about English players. I thought it was just about the English LEAGUE players. Since I usually start a save in the lower tiers, I usually don't have money for big transfer fees, and I especially don't have money for English wages

[@zephawright6488]

Portugal n Belgium population to world class players ratio is crazy like Jamaican pop to fast runners ratio

[@umbertobaldi3387]

It's an effect cascading also on the lower tiers. Last January here in Italy there were rumors of Juventus going after Mitrovic, who was scoring a goal every single match at Fulham in the Championship. The alleged offer was in the order of 16 million €. As a Fulham fan, I laughed at my juventus friends just for thinking it possible. I always said "The top scorer, of the top team, in the sixth-seventh wealthiest league in europe (Championship is as wealthy as Portugal Liga Nos, and wealthier then eredivisie) has got to be worth at least 50 million €. Than again, Fulham doesn't need to sell him, so not even 50 millions would be enough. That's an "English football tax"

[@harrybellingham98]

I love how theyve given Risotto a bit of a tan

[@j.m.potgieter3368]

20:08 Now that you mention it the Namibian 10Y Government Bond has a 11.679% yield and isn't as risky as you might think.

[@Eric_Hunt194]

That Alex Pritchard photo was somewhat triggering to us Huddersfield fans! I'd say the "English tax" is more of a thing for middling players, particularly with the homegrown rule and the post-Brexit changes. It applies equally to players from the other home nations too, so it's really a UK tax. Also, the homegrown players rule doesn't just cover UK players, for example Bournemouth's Phil Billing is a homegrown player despite being Danish because he joined Huddersfield's academy in his mid teens. To be honest the biggest "debunking" of the English tax is the absolute peanuts (in footballing terms) that Huddersfield received from Notts Forest (🎣 ) for Lewis O'Brien and Harry Toffolo.

[@bernhardsonn8996]

Very good vid !

[@andrsmaldo]

Can't believe Lescott went for £20+ m even though it was so long ago

[@sukhdevr3489]

He was a very good CB for Everton? He got 10 goals in 1 season from centre back.

[@ashleyw6728]

I like how people now just ignore for the first like 5 years Henderson was utter shit

[@Midnight-ot3oi]

499k subs? So close now!!

[@arzhi_azis]

Day 320: Indonesia XI If All Eligible Players Had Declared For Them.

[@user-yk7ig1ki3w]

keep dreaming bocah

[@hi-rr2vm]

@@user-yk7ig1ki3w heyy thats my phrase 😤

[@hi-rr2vm]

Keep dreaming bocah

[@R3in_Ch]

talk about your football league being one of the worst to be , it is more interesting than that sh1tty topic of yours.

[@caflorero]

9:42 I fully expected him to say "Gylfi Siggurdson's transfer from Everton to prison" 💀

[@samuelschonenberger]

The Thumbnail is a masterpiece

[@zakoid1]

I sometimes wonder how many possible future 'superstars' slipped through the net. Like a sliding doors moment, wrong place wrong time maybe.

[@simonh1791]

I think the english tax only really exists within the premier league. And i think its a fairly recent phenomenom, since the FA brought in the minimum english players in a squad rule (dont ask me the specifics of the rule as i dont know them). It was meant to help english talent come through but imo its not really doing that as teams like City now snap up promising english players who are playing regularly for smaller clubs and proceed to turn them into squad players or even worse 'forgotten men' of a former peak.

[@stevenogollah2969]

Hello Elfie It's Steve here from Kenya Africa I was wondering if you would make a video of : "STAR TEAM AJAX WOULD BE IF THEY KEPT ALL THEIR STARS " The year is your choice

[@WERTYUIO821]

16:40 *Thumbs up* FM truly educates generation about the rules

[@smortg]

I'd argue that 'English tax' is a misnomer for 'poacher's tax' most of the time. Also, with knowledge of money flowing, particularly amongst the top teams, there is more room to be steadfast with transfer fees

[@JW-fb4li]

Even if it is a pl tax it causes being overpaid in often the case Englisch/British players since the reasons you mentioned. But it has lead to overpaying of the player and them beïng overpriced. The national team was valued 1.1 billion starting last world cup, but france with all the class players they have was only 500 milion, with a big part of it beïng mbappe. It hasn't to do with how big the sum is, but how big the sum is in comparison with what the player has produced. For example ben white, ramsdale en wan-bissaka. They were decent to good at their previous clubs but did the impress so much that they were already worth those transfer fees. With awb beïng the best example if you couldn't get a better back in Europe for under 50 mil.

[@haridez]

Shoutouts to my man that when came a picture of Portugal showed a brazilian restaurant there. 4:26 (*laughs in absence of gold*)

[@alessandropasquino4592]

I think a "Premier League tax" is a better representation. European and South American clubs absolutely rinse Prem teams for their players.

[@007Fusiion]

When was the last time a South American club sold a player direct to the prem for big money? Jesus?

[@MONAHAN97]

Nice to see most people in the comments have already completely ignored most of what you said in the video

[@cogitoy7692]

Liked the video just for the rogue thumbnail 😂

[@tesseract_uk]

go to an Arsenal game and see how many Saka, Smith Rowe shirts people are wearing. good english players are massive marketing tools for English clubs and drive revenue. to get a similar influence from a foreign player they’d have to be of comparatively a much higher standing than an English player clubs are businesses after all

[@abdelrahmanibrahim8504]

You couldve easily thrown fofana in for the mafuire comparison at 9:40

[@fairphoneuser9009]

I expected your conclusion. And, as always, it seems to be plausible!

[@arjunkhatri3766]

The thumbnail 🤣

[@_bellatrix_potens_-bps-8366]

I thought it was because they need some English players for certain homegrown rules and certain requirements in each team? So it means to maintain a top team and keeping in line with requirements, the ‘best of the worst’ aka ‘English players’ will be the most expensive. As if you don’t get the very best of the meagreness we have to offer - it will cost your team way more than the £80 million you payed for a player that a European club wouldn’t play in their reserves. And the FA’s insistance that if we have the lucrative premier league it’s fine, as long as the best English players get cherry picked to start most matches despite there being a foreign player twice as good and half as cheap that can play in their position so that we still can maintain a semi competitive National Side. You just have to look at how many English players play abroad. Not many. And it’s not by the players choice. It’s the European clubs not being even slightly interested. English players are much worse than the public perception. Not because of ‘genetics’. It’s just that we have so many sports that many people play. Most of the other countries literally have football as their only accessible sport for many children growing up. People can list 10-20 world class players from England over the last two decades; (Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes etc) that were more than able to hold their position in top top clubs, but that’s 10-20 from the entire crop of premier division clubs over 20 years. That’s 1 a year. How many non English players come in every year? And managers? We aren’t very good, it’s simple. We just have a colonial mentality and think as the English Premier league is the best, we are too. Surprise!! No one regards England a big team anywhere where I have travelled. Be it Europe or South America. But they so all say: ‘But you all think you are for some reason’ In a nutshell: Top teams have to pay £100 million because of “supply and demand” They must field certain quotas - so the 10 half decent players that can fill a gap in that team albeit not being the true desired choice of the coach- will command extortionate fees

[@mateozamudio9611]

I agree with most of the video however i think there is a problem with comparing the griezman or coutinho transfer with the grealish transfer. Even if both the brazilian and the french flopped one could understand the price tags because of what they have done previously (griezman was a freaking world champion). However grealish was just the best player of a really average team and his numbers were good but not £100 million good. Same could be said about comparing declan rice with the casemiro transfer. I still think the "premier league tax" term to be more accurate but those examples are not the best to prove your point (talking as a non english viewer)

[@jonolasco]

I laughed out loud with the Rice meme.