LONDON • Britain is nearly out of the European Union but, through a series of seemingly unfashionable deals, its football teams may have found a way to keep one foot in the bloc as they search for the next Kevin de Bruyne.
Pacific Media Group, which owns second-tier Championship outfit Barnsley, is in talks to buy a lower-division team in France, co-founder Paul Conway said. Last week, the entertainment group completed its purchase of a majority stake in Belgian top-flight club KV Oostende.
The negotiations follow a slew of similar moves by owners of Premier League teams including Manchester City and Leicester City.
These investments offer British clubs a way of retaining access to Europe's youngest talent when the post-Brexit transition period runs out at the end of the year.
"Brexit will only accelerate mergers and acquisition deals in Belgium and France," Conway said. "English clubs will want a presence in Europe, where they have picked up so many promising young players."
Players from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Spain make up almost a fifth of those in the English top flight, according to Premier League figures.
"The Premier League's success is partially due to its ability to attract global talent," said Kieran Maguire, a lecturer on football finance at the University of Liverpool.
When the UK was a European Union member state, Fifa transfer rules allowed its clubs to offer contracts to players in Europe from the age of 16, meaning they could secure future stars early without parting with hefty transfer fees.
Starting in January next year, in the absence of an extension to the Brexit transition period, Fifa rules mean the age at which British clubs can secure European players will rise to 18. By that time, talents could have already been poached by other leagues.
"If an English club has a feeder club relationship with a club in the EU, they can still have access to European players at 16," said Andrew Osborne, head of the immigration practice at law firm Lewis Silkin.
"The feeder club will sign players and develop them for the English club, who will probably have right of first refusal to sign players."
City Football Group, which owns Manchester City, said earlier this month it had agreed to acquire Belgian second-tier team Lommel SK. Leicester and Sheffield United have also bought into Belgian teams.
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